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CONTENTS. 



PART I.— THE PORTUGUESE. 

CHAPTER FAGK 

I. INTRODUCTORY .--.--- i 

11. PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR - - - - 6 

III. DIOGO CAM AND MARTIN BEHAIM - - - - 40 

IV. BARTHOLOMEW DIAZ AND PEDRO DE COVILHA^I - - 49 
V. VASCO DA GAMA - - - - - - "57 

VI. PEDRO ALVAREZ CABRAL AND JUAN DE NOVA - - 87 

VII. FRANCISCO DE ALMEIDA - - - - - 98 

VIIL ALFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE - - - - - I16 

IX. THE LAST DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE - "131 

X. THE PORTUGUESE RULE IN INDIA AND ITS DECLINE - I38 

PART II.- THE SPANIARDS. 

I. INTRODUCTORY - - - - - - - 1 50 

II, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS - - - - "153 

III. AMERIGO VESPUCCI . _ . . - - 219 

IV. VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA . . - - - 234 

V.-TERNAM DE MAGALHAENS . _ - - - 244 

VI. HERNANDO CORTES ---_-- 263 

VIL FRANCISCO PIZARRO - - - - - "313 

Vin. THE LAST DISCOVERIES OF THE SPANIARDS - - - 346 

IX. THE SPANISH RUli IN AMERICA . - - - 356 



lUI J, ] 

A. 



F^ITURY OF DISCOVERY. 



' BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

OF THE PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH NAVIGATORS 
FROM PRINCE HENRY TO PIZARRO. 



(^ 



TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN 
OF 

THEODORE VOGEL. 



SSlith lEtucllJC illustrations. 



NEW YORK : 
D. APPLETON AND CO., BROADWAY, 

1877. 



A 

CENTURY OF DISCOVERY. 

PART I.— THE PORTUGUESE. 
CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

In the rugged mountain tract which separates the arid table- 
land of central Spain from the humid coast of the Bay 
of Biscay we trace the origin of the modern states of the 
Pyrenean peninsula. Into this wild and scarcely acces- 
sible region, which occupies the whole north-west corner 
of the peninsula, and lies among the Cantabrian Moun- 
tains, a thousand Christian families fled before the wild storm 
of Arabs which in 711 destroyed at Xeres de la Frontera 
the kingdom of the West Goths, and forthwith inundated the 
whole peninsula. Thus was formed the Christian state of 
AsturiaS; which still enjoys peculiar rights among the Spanish 
provinces. From it the Crown Princes of Spain have been 
used to take their title, and its inhabitants boast with genuine 
Spanish arrogance that they, whose soil the foot of the Moslem 
has never trodden, are the noblest of all the Spaniards. 

From mere defence the Asturians soon proceeded to direct 
attacks upon the invaders, and during the following centuries 
the neighbouring states, by dint of never-ceasing struggles, 
were gradually recovered by the Christians. It was usual in 

I 



2 A Century of Discovery. 

those days for a territory to be divided on the death of a prince, 
and out of repeated divisions and reunions two kingdoms at 
length arose at the beginning of the eleventh century. In the 
east was Arragon, with its capital, Saragossa, first wrested 
from the Arabs in 1130, comprising also Catalonia, and later 
on Navarre ; and in the west, Castile, to which belonged 
Gallicia, Asturias, and Leon. 

King Alfonso VI. of Castile, in the year 1094, gave the 
land between the Douro and the Minho as a fief to Count 
Henry of Burgundy, a prince of the Capetian dynasty, who 
came over the Pyrenees at the head of a large train of fol- 
lowers in order to stand by his brethren in the faith in their 
struggle with the infidel. With the territory the King also 
bestowed the hand of his daughter upon the young prince, in 
the hope of thus binding him closely to the cause of the 
Spanish Christians. The territory received the name of Portugal 
from its most important harbour, Porto Cale, now called Oporto, 
and the young state devoted itself most zealously to the national 
task— the driving of the Arabs from the Spanish soil. The ac- 
complishment of this task was specially looked for from the 
spiritual orders of knighthood, and, in imitation of the Castilian 
Orders of St. Jago of Compostella, Calatrava, and Alcantara, 
there arose in Portugal the Order of Aviz. Gloriously did the 
Portuguese kings henceforth share in the struggle against the 
Moors. But as time went on they sought more and more to 
direct the attention of their people to the neighbouring coast 
of Africa, and so to make the enthusiasm of the Portuguese 
for a religious war serviceable for the extension of their terri- 
tory. Though with no great result, the expeditions against 
Ceuta and Tangier scarcely ceased from the beginning of the 
fourteenth century, and they had a favourable eff-ect upon the 
Castilian and Arragonese conquests, inasmuch as they occu- 
pied the Moslems of Morocco in their own land and hindered 
them from supporting their brethren in Spain. 



Introductory. 3 

■But more important than all was the fact that Portugal gra- 
dually awoke to a consciousness of the value of its position 
on the main ocean. The ancient highway of commerce from 
the Mediterranean to the North Sea had never been com- 
pletely forgotten since those times when bold Punic seamen 
first discovered it. But in the night which settled over these 
shores during the irruption of the northern nations the inter- 
course ceased, and its timid recommencement at the time of the 
Carlovingians was suppressed by the piracies of the Normans 
and Danes. At last these wild forces raged themselves out, and 
a more orderly state of things together with a certain culture 
took the place of confusion. During the Crusades many a 
ship, full of warlike Netherlanders, who had devoted their arms 
to the service of the Holy Sepulchre, took the old road to the 
Mediterranean. The Portuguese too many times found valu- 
able allies against the Arabs in these brave and enthusiastic 
northern crusaders. But this route was not made use of as 
a highway for commerce until a new centre of industry and of 
trade sprang up in the Flemish towns of Antwerp, Bruges, and, 
above all, Ghent. Between them and the great Italian republics 
that traded in the productions of the east the commerce v/as 
soon so important that the thrifty Genoese and Venetians 
.exchanged the troublesome and expensive land route over 
the Alps and down the Rhine for the comfortable and far 
cheaper way by sea through the Straits of Gibraltar. As 
early as the year 13 18 the Venetians sent five ships to the 
fair at Antwerp, and from year to year the number of the 
ships increased. This commerce was of the greatest use to 
Portugal. All voyages were then made by creeping round 
the coast, and this continued to be the case until the middle 
of the fifteenth century, when the astrolabe was introduced, 
which enabled ships on the open sea to make something like 
a correct calculation with regard to latitude and longitude. 
In the voyage between Flanders and Italy, as long as it was 

I — 2 



4 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

the custom to keep close to the shore, the harbour of Lisbon^ 
which lay about half way, formed a welcome resting-place 
into which ships seldom failed to run. In fact, this harbour 
was so much frequented that in the time of King Ferdinand, 
who ruled from 1367 to 1383, four hundred and fifty merchant- 
ships might often be counted in it. In shipbuilding too the 
Portuguese soon acquired such skill that they outdid their 
teachers, and the Portuguese quick-sailing vessels, called 
caravels, acquired a fame which they well deserved. A 
caravel was a particularly round ship with a square stern. 
It had two masts and carried four three-cornered sails, and 
was armed like a galley ; and the persevering efforts of the 
Portuguese kings to construct a caravel that should carry 
cannon, without sacrifice of speed, were at length suc- 
cessful. 

The rapid growth of this little state soon secured it a great 
name, and gave rise to many fables about the riches of the 
Portuguese. It is certain that at the accession of King- 
Ferdinand the treasury of Lisbon contained, besides other 
coins and things of value, 800,000 gold pieces and 400,000 
marks of silver — an enormous sum for those days. 

King Ferdinand, whose weak and disorderly government 
swallowed up the treasure, was the last of his house. His 
early death in 1383 called up many claimants for the crown, 
above all the King of Castile, who coveted the possession of 
a land so rich, lying on the borders of his own. But the half- 
brother of the late King, John the Bastard, gained a glorious 
victory over the foreigner at Aljubarrota, four miles from 
Lisbon, where he afterwards founded the splendid Abbey of 
Batalha, the fine ruins of which are still standing. It was a 
burdensome inheritance on which the young Prince entered, 
and it cost him long years and much pains before the pros- 
perity of the land, ruined by the misrule of Ferdinand, was 
restored. However, the prudence and energy of the young 



Introductory. 5 

Prince succeeded at last in healing the wounds of the land. 
But his predecessor had left behind another inheritance in 
which the glorious future of Portugal was bound up, and upon 
which John and his whole family entered with hope and zeal 
— Africa and the Ocean. 



CHAPTER II. 

PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR. 

King John I., the Bastard, had by his marriage with Philippa 
of Lancaster five noble sons, all of whom deserved well of 
their country. Henry, the third of these brothers, born on 
the 4th of March, 1394, became grand master of the Order 
of Christ, which King Dionysius had founded after the sup- 
pression of the Templars and endowed with their great wealth 
— wealth which, according to the rules of the new foundation, 
was to be employed for the extension of Christendom. It 
may have been this stipulation which first turned the attention 
of the young Prince to the wide field which Africa presented 
to his desire to spread the faith that he professed. When, on 
investigating the matter, he found how exceedingly contradic- 
tory and full of fable was all the geographical knowledge then 
possessed of that quarter of the world, it awoke in him an 
ardent desire to lift the veil and win for his country the great 
prize which this enterprise offered. The year 141 5 was decisive 
in this matter. In this year King John, accompanied by hiij 
three eldest sons, proceeded with a fleet to the fortified town 
of Ceuta, which lies on the north coast of Africa, opposite tO' 
Gibraltar. After a gallant defence, Ceuta was taken by storm 
and plundered : and of the three Princes who won their spurs 
that day,Henry especially exhibited extraordinary bravery. 
Ceuta remained in the hands of the Portuguese, and became 
the key to Africa. From that day forward Henry decided to 
make the investigation of that as yet unknown portion of the 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 7 

world the task of his life, and for this the newly-conquered 
town offered a good starting-point. In order to be as near as 
possible to his field of labour, he afterwards removed his resi- 
dence to the Castle of Terganabal in Algarve, which he had 
built for himself on the Bay of Sagres. Here he spent nearly 
half a century in retirement, far from the splendour of the 
court, poring over nautical charts and books of travel, and 
with the most intense earnestness following every step that 
was made in the investigation of Africa by the Portuguese 
expeditions, which were all either undertaken at his expense, 
or at any rate greatly assisted by him. Admirable, indeed, is 
the quiet patience which he opposed to the mocking scepticism 
of his contemporaries and the want of success which fell to 
his lot for many years, until at the end of his life he saw his 
efforts crowned with the highest success, and a path of glory 
opened to his native land. 

The current opinion of learned men about Africa was that 
only the north coast of that continent was habitable, and that 
farther south the land that lay under the tropics was burnt up 
by the vertical rays of the sun, and was unsuitable for all 
animal and vegetable life. This theory, which the great 
Alexandrian geographer Ptolemy, following a suggestion of 
Aristotle, had put forth, was held by all Arabian and 
European savants of the Middle Ages as incontrovertible, and 
found confirmation, as it appeared, in the band of desert 
land which begins a few miles south of the shores of the 
Mediterranean Sea, and which was regarded as a passage to 
the completely desolate region of the tropics. South of that 
fearful desert it was thought there might be a tract covered 
with vegetation and providing man and beast with the means 
of subsistence. This was the opinion of the Roman poet 
Ovid, who, in his account of the Creation, says, " The middle 
one of the five zones is uninhabitable on account of its heat, 
the two extreme ones are covered with deep snow, but to the 



8 A Century of Discovery. 

two zones which God has placed between these He has given 
an endurable climate by means of a mixture of heat and cold. 

In the southern temperate zones was supposed to be the 
dwelling-place of our antipodes, the existence of which, how- 
ever, orthodox savants, following the opinion of St. Augustine, 
denied. 

But how penetrate to these happy regions } Only in 
East Africa did it appear possible, where the sacred Nile, 
breaking through the desert, rendered the passage practicable, 
which, farther west, was barred by the impenetrable waste. 
Following the Nile upwards, according to the opinion of the 
time, a glorious land was reached which formed the junction 
between the two temperate zones, and therefore was specially 
favoured by Nature, and appeared destined to rule the world. 
No wonder that the passion for strange stories and the love of 
the marvellous, which characterised the Middle Ages, should 
have made the most of such inviting materials. Wonderful things 
were related of this land, the inhabitants of which belonged to 
the Christian religion, and under the rule of a priestly King, 
Prester John, enjoyed an eternal peace and almost supernatural 
happiness. This marvellous tradition, which pointed to the 
highlands of Abyssinia, whose inhabitants had already become 
Christians in the fourth century, long possessed the minds even 
of educated men, and for centuries there were not wanting 
people who recognised in every newly-discovered land of the 
East the fabulous kingdom of Prester John, even if it only 
bore in some slight degree a resemblance to that land of 
marvels. 

Even Prince Henry had fallen into the popular delusion 
that the region of the tropics was uninhabitable, until the 
investigations which he made personally in Ceuta, and by 
agents in Tunis, awoke doubt in his mind. He learnt that in 
Morocco, as well as in Tunis, a regular commerce was carried 
on with lands which lay on the other side of the great desert. 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 9 

He learnt that caravans traversed that uninhabited region in 
thirty-seven days, and that they brought to the shores of the 
Mediterranean gold, ivory, and slaves. Lastly, he learnt that 
south of that belt of sand there were races that differed from 
the northern Africans, in that they had black skins and 
woolly hair ; that there were large towns in these territories, 
such as Timbuctoo, Ghagho, and Kantor, and powerful 
kingdoms, among which those of Melli and Gana are most 
frequently mentioned. The latter, which the Portuguese 
miscalled Guinea, was, according to the report of the traders, 
the most western of all the central African kingdoms, and 
extended to the ocean. 

These reports had, indeed, before this reached the Italian 
republics, and had called forth isolated attempts on the part 
of the Genoese and Venetians to reach by sea the land of the 
blacks ; but the small success of these expeditions had soon 
discouraged them. It is the distinguishing merit of Prince 
Henry that he resumed these attempts with fresh vigour, and 
made use of the singularly favourable position of Portugal for 
this purpose. That the received opinion about the great 
distance between the two temperate zones was founded on 
gross exaggeration, he decided from certain information which 
he obtained about the length of a caravan journey from 
Morocco to the Soudan. He considered that the journey 
might be made from Portugal in the same time by sea, if the 
west coast of Africa were followed towards the south. This, 
therefore, was the next task which Prince Henry set himself, 
and he took it up with a fiery zeal. 

But here hindrances met him which appeared almost 
insurmountable. Uncomfortable reports were current about 
the nature of the coast and sea, reports which had first been 
set afloat by the Phenician and Carthaginian merchants. 
These crafty traders had sought to monopolise the source of 
their most important commodities, tin, amber, ivory, gum, &c., 



lo A Century of Discovery. 

by spreading the most exaggerated and very often most 
absurd tales about the dangers which awaited the foolhardy 
navigator outside the Pillars of Hercules, if he sailed either 
northward towards the tin-producing islands, or southward 
to the hot lands where the black men dwelt. For a long time 
all the Carthaginian stories about the northern seas had been 
recognised as fables, for, with the fall of the Roman empire, 
the centre of the civilised world had moved northwards; but the 
faith in the horrible stories which had been related about the 
coast of Africa was in no wise shaken. On the contrary, they 
were received even by the learned as of undoubted authority. 
On the coast of what is now called Morocco, the boldest sea- 
men did not venture farther south than Cape Non, for the 
proverb said, " He who sails around Cape Non (Not) either 
will return or not." At that point was supposed to begin the 
sea of horrors, full of dangerous rocks and shallows. The 
heat of the sun was said to evaporate the water, so that the 
sea became more and more salt the farther south you ad- 
vanced, until at last it became such a dense mass that no ship 
could cut through it. A constant calm prevented any escape, 
and the evaporated water lay like a thick mist over the sea. 

The restless popular fancy had also erected here magnetic 
mountains which attracted every particle of iron, and thus 
caused any ships which came into their neighbourhood to fall 
to pieces. Of course there was no lack of horrible monsters 
in the sea and giants on the land, who both lay wait for the 
poor castaway seaman. And such fables were not mere 
popular superstitions, but were treated of seriously in scientific 
works. 

It was therefore an important result when, in the first ex- 
pedition which Prince Henry fitted out in order to reach 
Guinea, a part of these superstitious fears were found to be 
groundless. In the year 141 5 — the year of the taking of 
Ceuta — he sent out two more caravels, under the command of 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 1 1 

resolute Portuguese captains, with the express order to double 
Cape Non, and to penetrate as far as possible towards the 
south. The promontory which had been so much dreaded 
was discovered to be perfectly safe, and the voyage along the 
barren and uninhabited shore was prosperously made until, 
about sixty miles beyond Cape Non, an obstacle was en- 
countered which put an end to the farther progress of the- 
vessels. This consisted of a rocky peninsula, which stretched 
far into the sea, and from which a reef extended for six miles. 
The ocean here dashed with such boisterous violence against 
the shore that the courage of the sailors sank, and they de- 
clared it utterly impossible to sail round the cape, which was 
called Cape Bojador, from "bojar," to jut out. 

Prince Henry would not for a moment entertain the idea 
of abandoning his design, and the next year sent out many 
ships, with orders to sail round this point; but not one 
could fulfil the task. So low was nautical science still in 
Portugal that none of the captains would venture to steer the 
few miles out into the open sea which were necessary in order 
to overcome the obstacle. They each clung in a craven 
manner to the coast. A mere accident gave for a time another 
direction to Prince Henry's energy. 

A caravel, which he had sent out in the year 1419 to sail 
round Cape Bojador, was caught by a storm before it reached 
its goal, and driven far out into the open sea towards the west. 
When the storm abated, the sailors found themselves on the 
coast of an uninhabited island, which they christened Porto 
Santo. It was one of the Madeira Islands which they had hit 
upon, an island that had some years previously been discovered 
by some Italian sailors, but which had been almost forgotten 
again. 

The next year the larger sister island was discovered, and 
taken possession of Its Portuguese discoverers called it St. 
Lawrence, as they discovered it on St. Lawrence's day ; but 



12 A Century of Discovery. 

after a time it received the name which it now bears of 
Madeira, which means the woody island. The whole island 
was covered with thick forests, which, if we may believe the 
statements of the Portuguese, consisted principally of cedars. 

As soon as the Prince was informed of these discoveries — 
the importance of which he could well appreciate — he made 
preparations to people the newly-acquired lands, and to render 
their productions useful. With the consent of the King, he 
placed the islands under three governors, and called upon his 
countrymen to emigrate to those fruitful lands whose virgin 
soil promised a rich reward to the cultivator. 

At the foundation of the little town of Funchal, on the south 
coast of Madeira — which is still the capital of the group — a 
part of the primeval forest was set on fire. The fire spread, 
and burnt, according to some, for seven, according to others, 
for nine years, and consumed all the timber of the island. 
Now the island is poor in timber. The richness of soil, so 
lavishly manured by the ashes of the conflagration, was incon- 
ceivable. The corn bore at first sixtyfold ; the sugar-cane, 
transplanted thither from Sicily, brought forth a rich harvest ; 
and the vine, which, by the Prince's care, was brought from 
Cyprus, produced that wine to which the island owes so much 
of its fame. 

The zealous care which the Prince devoted to the newly- 
discovered Archipelago was richly repaid to him, for as he had 
fitted out and despatched the expedition, he received the fifth 
part of all the revenues of the islands, and with the sums 
which in this way flowed into the treasury of the Order of 
Christ he could defray the expenses of new undertakings. 
Afterwards the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo, and Diserta 
were made over to the Prince by his brother, King Edward, 
as his own possession, with all their revenues, and with the 
penal and civil jurisdiction. All the spiritualities were pre- 
sented to the Order of Christ. 



Prhice Henry the Navigator. 13 

Under Henry's government the population rapidly increased, 
and it now numbers about 100,000 inhabitants, principally of 
Portuguese descent. The once flourishing wine trade has been 
almost ruined by the grape disease, which first made its ap- 
pearance some years ago, and spread rapidly. In its palmiest 
days the island produced 15,000 pipes of wine, on which the 
Portuguese state laid heavy duties. Now the plains are covered 
with sugar-canes, which form the most important article of 
export ; and very recently attempts have been made to re- 
introduce the cultivation of the vine. The splendid climate of 
Madeira has caused it to be chosen as a winter residence for 
people suffering from pulmonary diseases. 

The promising development of the young colony caused 
the Prince to turn his attention to the neighbouring group of 
the Canary Islands, and excited in him the wish to gain them 
also for Portugal. These islands, which had never been quite 
forgotten, lie not far from the African coast, opposite Cape 
Non. It was here the old Greeks and Romans placed the 
happy islands of the Hesperides ; it was here that a venerable 
tradition of the Middle Ages pointed out the island of the holy 
Brandon ; and it was in this direction, at the beginning of the 
fourteenth century, that the first Venetian and Genoese fleets 
that ventured into the open sea directed their course. Portu- 
guese ships had in 1335 brought to Lisbon men and goods 
stolen from these islands, and the name — which is said to mean 
" the rediscovered islands " — clearly points out that an earlier 
knowledge of them had existed. 

In the bull issued from Avignon on the 15th of November, 
1344, the Pope, in virtue of his assumed supremacy over all 
lands, granted the island to the Spanish Prince Louis de la 
Cerda, who, however, was prevented by death from entering 
on his lordship. In the second half of the fourteenth century 
the islands were now and again visited, partly for the purposes 
of gain, that is, to carry off slaves and to procure dragon's 



14 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

blood and orchil (a dye) from the inhabitants, and partly with 
the object of converting them to Christianity. 

Of all the islands on the coast of Africa, the Canaries were 
the only ones that were peopled. From the scanty descrip- 
tions and vocabularies which the discoverers have handed down 
to us, we may conclude that there was some relationship be- 
tween the Guanches — so the inhabitants were called — and the 
people of the Atlas Mountains. How the migration from 
Africa took place is a riddle, for it is certain that when the 
Europeans arrived ships were unknown to the inhabitants, and 
from want of boats the intercourse between island and island 
was so small that the language of one island was not always 
understood by the people of another. The Guanches are said 
to have had tall athletic frames, were bright coloured, and had 
long fair hair ; and this description has been confirmed by the 
numerous mummies found in the sepulchres of the islands. 

Their clothing was very scanty, and their dwellings were 
either rude stone huts or the caves which had been formed 
in great numbers by the upheaving of the basalt. Herbs, 
roots, meal, and the milk and flesh of their flocks served 
for their food. The use of fermented liquors was unknown 
to them. Their tools also were clumsy; and since they 
had no iron, they were forced to be content with wood and 
stone, both for implements of industry and for arms. Cattle 
and goats appear to have been numerous in all the islands ; 
but the cultivation of corn was only carried on in those most 
favoured by Nature — Teneriffe and Canary. On these the 
number of the inhabitants was relatively great (Teneriffe is 
represented as having 6000 fighting men, and Canary still " 
more), and the people too showed a great superiority over 
those of the other islands in civil and social development. 

Canary was divided into two kingdoms, and each of the 
Kings had to assist him a council of 190 men, chosen from the 
noblest families. The people of Teneriffe were divided into 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 15 

many tribes, each with its chief at its head. The division into 
the nobility, the common people, and a despised class, to 
whom fell the unclean occupation of slaughtering cattle and 
goats, appears to have been common to all. Side by side 
with the civil nobility, there was a priestly class, which pos- 
sessed considerable political influence. The position of the 
high-priest of Canary is compared by the Spanish chronicler 
to that of a Christian bishop, and he possessed the power of 
•examining into the claims of warriors who aspired to be made 
nobles. Besides priests, priestesses are mentioned. 

With regard to the religion of this remarkable people, there 
are but few indications, which, however, tend to the conclusion 
that the faith in a Creator of all things, who rewards the good 
and punishes the wicked, was universal ; but that in particular 
islands special divinities were also honoured. The dead — at 
least, the illustrious dead — 'Were embalmed^ and, wrapped in 
skins, were placed in holes and caves. Great praise is be- 
stowed on the manners and customs of these Guanches, and 
many incidents of their short history place them in a bright 
light, to which the faithless cruelty of the Europeans forms a 
very ugly contrast. They came confidingly to meet the 
strangers, and the treaties concluded with them they never 
broke. To shed blood needlessly appeared to them a most 
shameful crime. Captives taken by them in war they never 
killed, but included them in the lowest class. They were pas- 
sionately devoted to song and dance; but their favourite occu- 
pation was the exercise of arms, which they practised in great 
tournaments. Even the European conquerors feared their 
obstinate gallantry, although to the muskets and lances of the 
Spaniards they could only oppose wooden clubs, slings, and 
spears with points made of horn. Thus the Guanches appear 
like the remains of a favoured race, once acquainted with a 
higher civilisation, but, from long isolation, gradually degraded 
to the condition of savages, though still retaining certain 



1 6 A Century of Discovery. 

social regulations and elevated tastes, like noble ruins in the 
midst of a deserted plain. 

It was the hope of conquering these islands, and bringing 
their inhabitants over to the faith, which caused the Norman 
nobleman Jean de Bethencourt, of the castle Grainville la 
Teinturiere, in the Pays de Caux, to embark from La Rochelle, 
on the 1st of May, 1402, in a very good vessel, well pro- 
visioned and manned. Such is the story of the Franciscan 
Boutier and the secular Le Verrier, who accompanied the 
adventure-loving nobleman as attendants, and have written a 
full account of the whole undertaking. The knight Gadifer 
de la Salle, an adventurer, joined him. On the way, in 
Corunna and Seville, where they lay to, they had to over- 
come difficulties raised by the rebellious spirit of the Gascon 
and Norman seamen. After a short voyage from Seville, 
they reached the Canary Islands, and the two knights took 
possession of those which lay most to the north-west. On 
the most northerly — -Lanceroto, which took its name from a 
Genoese, Lancelot Maloysel, its first discoverer, they built a 
fortress, to which they gave the significant name of Rubicon. 
But the small number of their forces made the subjugation of 
the inhabitants impossible ; and so Bethencourt returned, in 
order to procure assistance from Europe. Gadifer remained 
behind to take his place, but was soon reduced to the utmost 
extremity by a conspiracy, which was formed by his subor- 
dinate, Berthin de Berneval. 

This traitor embarked on board a Spanish ship with twenty 
of the inhabitants, whom he had kidnapped and thought to 
sell as slaves, and left Gadifer and his men behind in the utmost 
need, as he carried ofi" with him all their provisions. From this 
unpleasant situation, which was made worse by the hostility 
of the embittered Guanches, Gadifer was extricated at last 
by the return of Bethencourt, who had paid homage to King 
Henry II. of Castile, as his feudal lord, hoping thus to secure 



Prince Henry the Navigato7\ 1 7 

a generous support. The subjugation of the island was then 
speedily accomplished, and the inhabitants constrained to 
receive Christianity, the King himself being baptised by the 
chaplain, Le Verrier, and receiving the name of Louis, More 
difficult was the subjugation of the neighbouring island, 
Erbania, or Fuerteventura, the capital of which still bears the 
name of Bethencuria. It was only accomplished after a 
year's hard struggle, with the support of the baptised Guanches 
of Lancerote, and by a sagacious use of the discord between 
the two races which inhabited the island — a discord so bitter 
that the weaker race had built a wall for their defence right 
across the island. 

After the arrival of new colonists from Normandy, Bethen- 
court proceeded with the exploration and conquest of the rest 
of the Canary Islands. But here he was not fortunate. He 
suffered seriously in his conflicts with the gallant Guanches, 
and could only establish a firm footing in the island of Ferro. 
During these various expeditions he touched on the coast of 
Africa south of Cape Bojador, and his biographers have much 
to relate of the plans that he had formed for further discoveries 
in this part of the world. Promising soon to return, and 
making his nephew, Maciot, governor, he left the islands and 
set sail for Rome, in order to make arrangements for the 
spiritual welfare of his newly-converted subjects. At his re- 
quest. Pope Innocent VII. created a new bishopric for the 
Canary Islands, and made Albert de Maison the first bishop. 
He took up his residence in Rubicon, being under the 
Archbishop of Seville, From Rome Bethencourt turned 
towards his home, and there, in the year 1425, he died, 
without accomplishing his promised return to the Canary 
Islands. 

Even before the death of this worthy knight, whose religious 
zeal had been considerably influenced by selfishness and love 
of adventure, his nephew had found it impossible to retain his 

2 



1 8 Jj Century of Discovery. 

hold over the islands. He had not sufficient authority to 
control the community, and the irregularity of the supplies 
which he received from his uncle caused considerable suffering 
to the colonists, and endangered the existence of the settle- 
ment. Added to this, he had to encounter the opposition of 
the Guanches and the raids of the Spanish corsairs. 

These were sufficient reasons to make Maciot de Bethen- 
court tired of such an unprofitable undertaking, and he 
entered into a negotiation with Prince Henry, and gave him 
the Canary Islands in exchange for territories in Madeira. 
Greatly pleased at the important acquisition, Henry in 1424 
sent out a strong force to receive the islands from Maciot. 
He could not, however, conquer the larger islands of Canary, 
Tenerifife, and Palma, all attempts, being frustrated by the 
gallant defence of the natives ; and before the Prince could 
send reinforcements, the King of Castile stepped in with a 
claim upon the whole Archipelago in virtue of the homage 
rendered to him by the elder Bethencourt. Considering the 
expense and difficulty which the conquest of the islands 
would cost, Prince Henry relinquished them on the payment 
of a considerable sum of money. 

The Castilians contented themselves at that time wath the 
possession of the islands Langerote, Fuerteventura, and Ferro, 
which had already been conquered and colonised. It was not 
until the middle of the century that they began the conquest 
of the other island, and it took them about fifty years fully to 
accomplish it. Unfortunately, only imperfect and one-sided 
accounts of this tedious struggle have come down to us, but it 
is clear even from them that it was a desperate war, the 
Guanches defending their liberty to the utmost against a 
better armed enemy, and the Castilians giving proofs of that 
gloomy, though chivalrous, fanaticism and that utter want 
of feeling which were afterwards so terribly shown by their 
conduct in the New World. Many times^ even in this unequal 



Prince Hemy the Navigator. 19 

struggle, they encountered serious defeats. For instance, the 
celebrated Alonso de Sago, who finally conquered the island, 
and who is known to us by the name of Adelantado, was 
often unfortunate in his contests with them. Thus, in the year 
1493, he was allured into an ambush in the mountains by King 
Benchomo, and lost eight hundred of the one thousand men 
whom he commanded. In the middle of the battle, say the 
Spanish historians, Benchomo came into the field and saw his 
brother, who was wounded by a lance, sitting on one side of 
the ravine. "What !" said the King, " resting while your soldiers 
are fighting .''" " I have conquered," was the answer, " and 
have fulfilled my duty as commander. Now my soldiers are 
doing theirs : they are slaying." But this victory at Acentejo 
was the last day of glory for a people worthy of a better fate. 
Unheard-of misfortunes followed.- Returning in 1496 with 
new forces, the Adelantado overthrew the Guanches of Tene- 
riffe, on whom fortune had turned her back. The treaty then 
sworn to by the Spaniards was not kept, Benchomo was lured 
on to a ship and taken as a rare animal to Spain, thence to 
Rome and Venice in order to show him to the Pope and the 
Doge. In Venice he died. The unhappy islanders were pur- 
sued into their most inaccessible hiding-places. Many threw 
themselves down from the rocks, and died martyrs to a cause 
they could no longer defend ; others fell with weapons in their 
hands ; many were sold as slaves ; and the survivors, mingling 
with new colonists who streamed into the fruitful land, adopted 
their religion and language. In the whole island there has 
been nobody for a hundred years who could boast of a pure 
descent from the Guanches. But if as a people they have 
passed away, the remembrance of their deeds is lovingly 
cherished in the land, and the attention of the traveller who 
climbs the peak of Tenerifie is drawn by the guide to many 
spots rendered famous by the death-struggles of the Guanches. 
After the failure of the attempt to gain the Canary Islands 

2 — 2 



20 A Century of Discovery. 

for Portugal, Prince Henry turned his attention principally tc 
the government of Madeira, which quickly began'to flourish. 
But he did not relinquish his plans to penetrate into the king- 
dom of Guinea and the land of the blacks. The next thing 
to be done was to induce the Portuguese to give up the custom 
of sailing close to the coast, and to inspire them with the 
courage and knowledge which a voyage in the open sea 
demanded. With this object he summoned from Majorca the 
learned Master Jacob, who was celebrated not only for his skill 
in seamanship, but also in drawing maps and constructing^ 
astronomical intruments. Probably Henry himself did some- 
thing in the way of preparing charts, hence called Portulano ; 
at any rate he .strove by example to inspire the Portuguese 
with a desire for geographical and nautical knowledge. Just 
at this time occurred the return of his elder brother, Pedro, 
a prince whom in later years all the great services which he 
had rendered to his country were powerless to protect from 
shameful calumny and a miserable end. His thirst for know- 
ledge had driven him into distant lands. Knowing and 
sharing his brother's tastes, he brought him from Venice a 
valuable gift, a manuscript account of the travels of Marco 
Polo, that bold Venetian who,in the latter part of the thirteenth 
century, had experienced, the most strange adventures in 
Central and East Asia, and had drawn up a map in which the 
supposed form of Africa was depicted, together with all the 
known or imagined islands of the world. This gave a 
higher flight to the plans and designs of Prince Henry. 
Guinea, which had hitherto been the end and aim of his hopes, 
now was looked upon by him merely as a midway station, 
and behind, in the bright distance, there arose a vision of the 
earthly Paradise — the Indies. 

The productsof the Indies — that region so singularlyfavoured 
by Nature — had always found a ready market in Europe, and 
at every period when the intercourse between the East and 



■ Prince Hewy the Navigator. 2 1 

the West had been reopened the demand for Indian wares had 
increased ; when, for instance, Alexander the Great, on the 
wings of victory, entered and Hellenised the East ; when the 
Romans made conquests on the banks of the Euphrates and 
Tigris ; and when the Arabs arose to subdue lands and found 
kingdoms. At the time this intercourse seemed likely to be 
limited, or indeed entirely interrupted by the advances of the 
Turks — who understood only too well how to crush the civili- 
sation which they found, but were utterly unable to substitute 
another — the crusades began and brought about so close a con- 
nection between the East and the West that the trade in Indian 
wares received a powerful impulse. Stuffs, such as silk and 
cotton ; spices, such as pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves ; 
precious things, such as gold, ivory, gems, and pearls, soon 
became indispensable to the luxury of Northern and Western 
Europe. The commerce between Europe and the East 
lay in the hands of some of the commercial republics of 
Italy. Instinctively had Venice, the city of the lagoons, ex- 
pended her strength in the crusades, and found a rich reward 
in the trading privileges which were conferred on her citizens 
in Syria and the Byzantine empire. 

An envious rival to Venice was Genoa, which, after the sup- 
pression of Pisa, assumed a ruling position in the western por- 
tion of the Mediterranean, continually seeking by a greater 
activity and a more cunning diplomacy to surpass her. For 
•centuries did these two mighty states contend, and the scene 
of their conflict was the coasts of the Black and .^gean Seas, 
the imperial palace of Constantinople, and the seraglios of 
Turkish and Arabian potentates. The renewed advances of 
the Turks in the fifteenth century closed the harbours of the 
Black Sea and Asia Minor to the Venetians and Genoese, and 
henceforth the Indian traffic was carried on with^^a more com- 
plete exclusiveness through Egypt and Syria. With the 
Mameluke sultans who ruled these lands from Cairo, the two 



2 2 A Century of Discovery. 

naval states had been from the earliest times on the most 
friendly terms. The frequent prohibitions which the Pope had 
issued against all intercourse Avith the infidel rulers of Eg^-pt 
had remained without effect, doubtless because they were op- 
posed to the singular advantages to be reaped from intercourse 
with the East, and even the chair of St. Peter had not been 
altogether insensible to the golden benefits to be derived from 
the flourishing Egyptian traffic. 

The extraordinary commerce which was carried on in the 
beautiful valley of the Nile brought new life to that 
ancient land. The trade itself was considerable, consist- 
ing principally in Indian wares brought by Arab sailors 
from India to Suez, or other harbours of the Red Sea, and 
from thence to Alexandria, the centre of the Levant comxmerce. 
The yearly value of the trade of the Venetians in Alexandria 
alone was, according to certain information, at least 6oo,ooO' 
ducats. But its real worth was far greater than this. The 
Italian traders took advantage of their monopoly, and gained a 
profit of lOO per cent, on the Indian wares. Upper Italy and 
the Venetian territory alone, according to an official report made 
by the Doge, Thomas Mocenizo, to the Signoria (the great 
council of Venice) in the year 1420, yearly received 50,000 cwt. 
of cotton, worth 250,000 ducats; 520 bales of cinnamon, at 
160 ducats a bale ; 3400 loads of pepper, at 100 ducats a load ;, 
3000 cwt. of ginger; more than lOOO cwt, of sugar, at an 
average of 15 ducats for 100 lbs. And still greater was the 
sale of these Indian wares in Germany, whither the Venetians 
sent their great trading expeditions. Indeed, this traffic, like 
a magic wand, spread life and prosperity wherever it touchedo. 
Trieste, Bozen, Sterzing, Mittenwald, flourished as intermediate 
stations of the Venetian and Genoese trade, while Augsburg 
was its centre, and through it attained that high point of power 
and authority which rendered it such a happy example of 
German city life in its richest and noblest development. In a. 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 23 

similar manner London flourished in England, and Ghent and 
Antwerp in Flanders, though none of all these towns could 
rival the splendour of Venice. ' 

On the Grand Canal stood those costly palaces whose 
fairy-like splendour is yet reflected in the desolate waters. 
The churches, filled with the trophies of eastern victories, were 
adorned by Titian and Paul Veronese. The market-place 
and the Riva dei Schiavoni were full of life, and picturesque 
with bright costumes. Like Paris now, Venice was then the 
oracle of fashion ; it was the goal to which pleasure-seekers 
most frequently turned their steps, and it was the best school 
for grace of manner, and for learning the most refined method 
of enjoying life. Around its venerable Doges, who ruled not 
only Venice itself, but the kingdoms of Cyprus, Morea, Candia, 
and a great part of Dalmatia and the valley of the Po, stood 
the most experienced diplomatists of all the states of Europe, 
who indeed looked upon this central point of the world's in- 
dustry, where the threads of eastern and western life were 
twined together, as their highest school. And all this glory 
stood upon the foundation of the trade with India. 

But whilst this flood of prosperity was filling the city in the 
lagoons, far in the west by the waves of the ocean a solitary 
man was brooding over a scheme which was to put an end 
to all this glory, destroy the foundation on which it rested, 
and turn to his own land the current of fortune which 
had been exclusively hers. The plans of the Prince soared 
ever higher and higher. The representation of Africa given 
him by the Venetian chart may not have resembled very 
closely the real form of that continent ; but, at any rate, it 
convinced the Prince that it was possible to sail round Africa, 
and arrive directly at the source of the Indian trade. Happy 
the people who should reach this goal ! To them must flow 
all the riches of the earth, as from an inexhaustible spring. 
And for what other people could this future be intended — 



24 A Century of Discovery. 

what other people had more reason and right to strive after 
this object than the Portuguese ? It seemed only to need an 
earnest will and a patient constancy, and the tempting fruit 
would be theirs. But how long a time was to elapse before 
the Prince's noble dreams were realised. Nearly seventy years 
passed away before Vasco de Gama landed in Calcutta, and 
a hundred years before the discoveries of the Portuguese, 
and the almost contemporaneous conquest of Egypt by the 
Turks, for ever stopped the source whence had flowed the 
prosperity and wealth of Venice. 

The Prince first determined to assure himself of the trust- 
worthiness of the chart, by sending out an expedition (1430) 
to look for the islands which were marked somewhere in the 
middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about 100 miles west of Cape 
St. Vincent. This journey in the open ocean would also be 
a test whether the instructions of Master Jacob had borne 
good fruit. The Commander Gonsalo Velho Cabral ventured 
on the bold enterprise, and came back without accident ; but 
instead of the expected islands, he had only discovered certain 
rocks, which, from the surging tumult of the waves around 
them, he named Formigas, that is, " the Ants." Henry, how- 
ever, was not discouraged. The next year the commander 
set sail again for another attempt, and this time with better 
success. He landed, on the 15th August, 143 1, on the island 
of Santa Maria, and thus became the discoverer, or redis- 
coverer, of the Azores or Hawks' Islands, which, almost a 
hundred years before, had been touched by some distressed 
Venetian or Genoese ships. The discovery caused great joy 
in Portugal, The most illustrious families took part in the 
colonisation of the island, and to them Prince Henry gave large 
territories as hereditary fiefs. Strange to say, the complete ex- 
ploration and conquest of the island required almost thirty years, 
and it was not until 1460, the year of the Prince's death,that the 
most distant islands, Corvo and Flores, were discovered. The 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 25 

rush of colonists was very great, for the climate of the islands 
was mild and healthy, though damp. The fertile soil was so 
completely cleared of its forests that the islands now are poor 
in wood, with the exception of an evergreen laurel forest in 
San Miguel. But still, thanks to the dampness of the atmo- 
sphere, there has been no want of water from this reckless 
destruction. Some Flemish nobles, who received large pos- 
sessions from the Prince, brought into the land many colonists 
from the Netherlands and North Germany. The island of Fayal 
was specially the one to which these strangers flocked, and hence 
for a long time it was called Ilha del Framengos, or the Island 
of the Flemings. Terceira, which the Prince gave (1450) to 
the Flemish knight Jacob von Brugge, was soon rich and 
flourishing from the careful cultivation bestowed upon it by 
the Netherlanders. But it was Jobst van Hurter, of Moer- 
kerke, who had the chief merit of the Flemish emigration, 
being sent to the Azores by the Duchess Isabella of Bur- 
gundy, to whom the islands of Fayal and Piro had been pre- 
sented. In i486, when he married his daughter to the Ger- 
man geographer Martin Behaim, he was still in high repute as 
governor. 

The favourable results of Cabral's expeditions increased the 
confidence of the Prince in the Venetian chart, and strength- 
ened his determination to proceed along the west coast of 
Africa, hoping at last to arrive in the Indian Ocean by sailing 
round the continent. One of the gentlemen of his court, Gil 
Eannes (Gilianes), undertook to sail round the formidable 
Cape Bojador, which was still the limit of the West African 
discoveries, and set sail in 1433 with this object. But with 
him, as with Cabral, the first attempt was not successful, all 
his efforts were frustrated, and obliged to return, he sought to 
indemnify himself for the fruitless enterprise by kidnapping 
some of the inhabitants of the Canary Isles. But this breach 
of the treaty which Prince Henry had concluded with the 



26 A Century of Discovery. 

crown of Castile, touching the Canaries, only made Gil Eannes's 
crime blacker in the eyes of his master, and he could only 
soften his anger by a solemn oath to solve the difficult problem 
the following year. He kept his word, and sailed round Cape 
Bojador, beyond which he found an uninhabited coast, whence 
he brought home, as his only spoil, some strange plants — 
Santa Maria roses. Notwithstanding, he met with a gracious 
reception from the Prince, who looked upon these flowers as 
satisfactory proofs of the erroneousness of the popular idea 
that all vegetable life was impossible in the tropics. 

The success of Gil Eannes attracted attention beyond 
Portugal, and in his own land the rounding of the formidable 
promontory was looked upon as an heroic deed which deserved 
the highest honour. "Though," says the historian, Joas de 
Barros, "it is no longer considered difficult, it was then looked 
upon as a mighty achievement, and there were people who 
lauded it as worthy of Hercules." It refuted the false opinion 
prevalent throughout Spain, and gave courage to many who 
had not hitherto ventured to pursue these discoveries. Ex- 
cited by the popular ardour, the Prince sent out his cup- 
bearer, Alfonso Gonsalves Baldaya, with a larger ship, accom- 
panied by Gil Eannes, as guide. But their discoveries were 
unimportant, and a second expedition, which was sent out in 
1436, only added a few miles of sea to their previous know- 
ledge. The land was desolate. Only a few scattered inhabi- 
tants were met with, and these offered so determined an 
opposition to the Portuguese that their wish to bring a prisoner 
to the Prince, who might give him information about the 
country, could not be carried out. To the great bay which 
they then reached, and from which the Portuguese brought a 
cargo of sealskins, they afterwards gave the incongruous name 
of Rio do Ouro (Golden River) in order to gild a fruitless 
undertaking with a fine name, and to give the idea that the 
problem, part of which was the discovery of this fabulous 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 27 

river, was solved. But in this case, as so often afterwards, 
the name preceded the discovery. 

Although he was very far from being discouraged by these 
failures, Prince Henry was unable for the next few years to 
do anything towards the accomplishment of his plans. First, 
he was occupied with a great war against Tangier, which he 
himself had urged upon the King his brother, and to the 
command of which he was himself appointed in conjunction 
with his younger brother, Ferdinand. With an army of 6000 
men the Princes sat down before the hostile town (1437), but 
were soon reduced to the direst extremity by a powerful 
Moorish army which threatened them in the rear. From this 
situation they were only able to extricate themselves by a 
disgraceful treaty, which allowed them to depart on the 
promise of giving up Ceuta. Prince Ferdinand remained as 
hostage in the hands of the victors, by whom he was brought 
to the capital, Fez, where he died after a captivity of six years 
from ill treatment on the part of the Mussulmans. The unfor- 
tunate Ferdinand, who well knew that the honour of Portugal 
did not allow of his being released by the surrender of Ceuta, 
bore his hopeless fate with a Christian patience which has 
earned for him the name of the Constant Prince. Under this 
name he still lives in the noble tragedy of the great Spanish 
poet Calderon. Great was the grief and dismay of Portugal 
at this disaster. 

King Edward died of grief in 1438, leaving behind him an 
infant heir, A bitter quarrel arose about the regency between 
the widowed queen and Prince Pedro, which was decided after 
a year in favour of the latter. Distracted by these events, and 
drawn into the war of factions, being called on both sides to 
act as mediator. Prince Henry was obliged to postpone the 
execution of his plans until a more favourable time, and it 
was not until peace had been restored under his brother 
Pedro's rule that he could resume his work of discovery. In 



28 A Century of Discovery. 

the year 1441 he fitted out two ships, of which one, under the 
command of Antonio Gonsalves, the Prince's master of the 
robes, was to explore the coasts already discovered ; whilst 
the other, under the bold Nuno Tristam, was to proceed as 
far as possible along the coast. Both were successful. The 
united crews in a sharp night contest obtained possession of 
twelve Moorish prisoners, from whom the Prince obtained 
information about their home and trade with the south. So 
important did the Prince consider this intelligence, and the 
new discoveries made by Tristam, who had sailed along the 
desolate coast as far as Cape Blanco, that in 1442 he sent an 
embassy to Rome, to give an account to the Pope of the 
recently-discovered islands and coasts, and to request that, as 
compensation for the expense and trouble, Portugal might be 
granted the investiture of all the land still to be discovered 
between Cape Bojador and the Indies. By granting this 
request, the Pope shut out all other nations from any concur- 
rence in these explorations, and removed the fears of the Prince, 
that others might come before him and reap the harvest where 
he had sown with so much pains. 

The Pope, who, according to the spirit of the times, looked 
upon the opening up of new countries chiefly as a means to 
extend Christianity, rewarded the efforts of the Prince by 
granting him the tithes and the spiritual jurisdiction in all the 
lands hitherto discovered or yet to be discovered by the 
Portuguese, and forbade any one, whoever he might be, under 
heavy spiritual penalties, to go exploring without permission 
of the Prince. This gift was rendered more important by a 
decree of the Regent Pedro, which granted the monopoly of 
the trade to the discovered lands to his brother Henry, and 
so filled the Prince's exhausted coffers. Outside Portugal 
attention was aroused, and not only learned and able men, 
who took a scientific interest in the Prince's undertakings, but 
many adventurers and fortune-seekers began to stream into 



Prince Heitry the Navigator. 29 

the country. Thus a German nobleman, named Balthasar 
(unfortunately his family name is not preserved), who had 
taken part in the capture of Ceuta, accompanied Gonsalves 
when the latter took back the Moorish prisoners into their 
own country, where they were exchanged for gold dust and 
negroes. Balthasar's wish to experience a good storm was 
gratified, but it did not deter the bold and adventurous man 
from taking a share in greater enterprises. 

The people of Portugal were not at all eager — in fact, they 
were unwilling — to pursue the African discoveries. The great 
contrast between the fruitful islands which had been so quickly 
peopled with industrious agriculturists, and the rocky and 
barren lands which had been opened up on the west coast of 
Africa, did not act upon the mind of the people as a stimulus 
to push on more vigorously towards the south until that coast 
of Guinea should be found which promised the adventurer 
such a rich reward, but rather as a warning to expend no 
more money or men on the discovery of lands which became 
more and more barren the farther south you went, and which 
appeared thoroughly to confirm the popular opinion that the 
tropical regions were uninhabitable. 

But Henry was not only convinced of the complete incor- 
rectness of this idea, he also felt sure that a single piece of 
success would change the murmurs of the people into enthu- 
siastic rejoicing, and the general indifference into general zeal. 
Therefore he remained unmoved, and in the year 1443 his 
patience was rewarded. 

Nuno Tristam sailed round Cape Blanco, which he had dis- 
covered two years before, and found, farther south, a bay con- 
taining several islands, and with rich and fertile shores. The 
bay is now called the Bay of Arguim. Around it lived a strong 
Moorish people, called the Azeneghi,who supported themselves 
by fishing, and were said to be next-door neighbours to the 
blacks. The news of this discovery awoke in the Portuguese 



30 A Century of Discovery. 

the spirit of enterprise. As early as 1444 there set sail from 
Lagos, a town of Algarve, which, on account of its nearness, 
had been made use of by the Prince for the fitting out of his 
expeditions, a fleet of six caravels equipped hy a merchant 
company which had been formed in the town for the purpose 
of turning the newly-discovered lands to good account. The 
Prince had given his consent with joy, and had placed 
Lancarote, one of his household, in chief command of the 
fleet. Among the leading men also was Gil Eannes, It 
was made a condition that a fifth part of the gain should go 
to the Prince, who had contributed to the expense of the ex- 
pedition. The articles to which their attention was particu- 
larly directed were gold dust, the musk of the civet cat, and 
slaves. Nobody considered the kidnapping of these heathen 
people as either illegal or wrong. On the contrary, the 
cunning and courage necessary in the struggle with these un- 
happy savages were considered so honourable that very many 
Portuguese noblemen were knighted for such heroic deeds on 
the shores of Africa. How lucrative this slave trade was is 
shown, not only by the price of the living wares — a strong 
slave was on an average, according to the present value of 
money, worth ;^6o, — but also by the large number of ships 
engaged in this traffic, fourteen being sent out in the year 1445 
from Lagos alone, and twelve from other Portuguese harbours. 
In accordance with the spirit of the times, the Prince also 
thoughtlessly demanded the fifth of the slaves from every 
returning ship. Indeed, in the course of time, the great 
profit of this trade led to new agreements with the companies, 
by which the Prince was to receive the fourth share if he did 
not contribute to the expenses, and the half if he did. Though 
it cannot be denied that the slave trade contributed to en- 
courage the African discoveries because the men-stealers 
found themselves continually obliged to turn up new un- 
touched ground, yet the cruelties which they allowed them- 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 31 

•selves to commit upon the savage tribes did much harm to the 
Portuguese themselves. Suspicion was excited, and an ever- 
increasing bitterness towards foreigners, to which many of 
them fell victims, Gonsalvo de Cintia, who was slain with 
seven companions in the Bight of Alguim, in 1445, by the 
Azeneghi, was but the first of many. After him one of the 
most lamented was Nuno Tristam, the discoverer of Arguim, 
who, with his followers, in the year 1446, was surrounded by 
the negroes in thirteen large boats on the Rio Grande. When 
the Portuguese discovered that the enemies' arrows were 
poisoned it was unfortunately too late. Almost the whole 
crew, Tristam included, died immediately, and the five men 
who alone remained alive, although completely ignorant of 
navigation, brought the ship into the harbour of Lagos after 
a two months' voyage. But all these losses were outweighed 
by the extraordinary advantages of the Guinea traffic, and 
new expeditions were continually being arranged. Prince 
Henry, whose permission it was necessary to obtain, made 
this trade subservient to higher objects. From every ship 
that returned he required an exact report of the voyage, and 
by the scientific expeditions, which he still continued to send 
out yearly, he not only tested the correctness of these ac- 
counts, but also opened up new territories, into which the traders 
soon followed. A proof of the anxious desire which Henry 
manifested to obtain as correct information as possible is 
found in the story of Joas Fernandez, one of the gentlemen 
of his court. He consented to be landed on the coast of 
Africa, and passed seven months among the Azeneghi in order 
to obtain correct information about their manners and customs, 
and about the neighbouring land, with which they were 
acquainted. The Prince sent to fetch him off the next year, 
and, out of gratitude for his self-sacrifice, named him a com- 
mander of the Order of Christ. A similar purpose was 
answered by the fortified factory which was built in the year 



32 A Century of Discovery. 

1445 on the islands in the Bay of Arguim, and by the inter- 
course which was thus established with the Central African 
traders. To information thus obtained he owed an exact ac- 
quaintance with the coasts, even before they were reached by 
the Portuguese sailors, to whom he was able to give man)^ 
important hints and suggestions about their journey. Diniz 
Fernandez, a rich citizen of Lisbon, or as some say, Diniz 
Dias, once a page of the Prince, was the first to reach (1445) 
the coasts of the black tribes, which were called Jaloffs. He 
extended his voyage as far as a cape to which he gave the 
significant name of Cape Verde. 

In the same eventful year Lancarote, following the precise 
descriptions of the Prince, discovered the mouth of the river 
Senegal. It was thought to be a branch of the Nile, a mistake 
which was repeated later about the great river which flows into 
the Gulf of Guinea, and which still bears the name of the 
Black Nile (Nilus Niger), which was then given to it. In the 
next few years the boundary of the Portuguese possessions was 
carried forward to the mouths of the rivers Gambia and Rio 
Grande ; but there for a long time it remained — a fact which is 
explained by the necessity under which Prince Henry found 
himself of directing his exclusive attention to the internal 
affairs of his country. 

A bitter quarrel had broken out between the young King, 
Alfonso (Afi"onso in Portuguese), and his uncle and foster-father, 
Pedro, who up to this time had been regent. Prince Henry 
naturally played the part of a mediator, and his efforts were 
successful in preventing the breaking out of an open quarrel for 
two years ; but at last the ceaseless irritation kept up by the- 
courtiers, who understood how to excite the young King's jea- 
lousy, made civil war unavoidable. Pedro, with his adherents, 
fell fighting valiantly, on the banks of the little river Alfarro- 
beira, against the overwhelming army opposed to him. Al- 
though his heart was on the side of his much-loved brother^ 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 33 

yet, when recourse was had to arms, Prince Henry remained 
loyal to the King, and thus disarmed calumny and intrigue. 
But his spirit was broken, and if the news of newly-discovered 
lands still awoke his interest, he never again took an active 
share in any expedition. Indeed, his time was pretty fully 
occupied in the defence of Ceuta and the other Portuguese 
possessions in Africa against the Moors — a task which had 
been committed to him. 

One spot of light in this dark period is the appearance of the 
Venetian Luigi Casa da Mosto, or Cadamosto, born in 1422, who, 
accidentally finding himself in the neighbourhood of the Prince, 
was impelled by a strong desire to have an interview with him, 
on account of the wonderful things which he had heard about 
the new lands. Whether his motive was a thirst for know- 
ledge, or a wish to grow rapidly rich, or perhaps a patriotic 
dread of a danger threatening his native city — whatever it 
was, Prince Henry was more ready to meet him because he 
hoped to receive from one acquainted with the spice trade 
authentic information about the spices of Guinea. On a pro- 
mise of half the profits, he placed at the disposal of the 
Venetian a caravel under the command of Vincent Dias, the 
freight of which was to be provided by Cadamxosto. On March 
22nd, 1455, it sailed from the harbour of Lagos. The account 
which Cadamosto wrote of this and his next journey fortu- 
nately has beeii preserved, and is rich in information about the 
condition of the newly-discovered lands. Porto Santo and 
Madeira, at which places he touched, he found in great pros- 
perity ; indeed, the latter he describes as an earthly paradise. 
Of the Canary Islands, he visited Gomera and Ferro, and has 
given us an exceedingly interesting account of the Guanches, 
who still held independent of Spanish control Canary, Tene- 
riffe, and Palma. The Bay of Arguim, whither he next turned, 
was the seat of a lively trade with the Moorish merchants, who 
brought from the south all kinds of wares, chiefly black slaves, 

3 



34 ^ Cenhiry of Discovery. 

of whom at that time from Arguim alone between 700 and 800 
were annually shipped to Portugal. The most interesting intel- 
ligence which he received here about Central Africa concerned 
a powerful negro state, the kingdom of Melli. A very exten- 
sive traffic was carried on between Timbuctoo and Melli in 
rock salt, which, he was told, was not only eaten in large 
quantities by the inhabitants to correct the impurity of the 
blood occasioned by the extreme heat, but was also used to 
exchange for gold with the inhabitants of some mysterious 
islands on the coast of a far distant sea. The next place where 
the Venetian stopped was the Senegal, where the green woody 
banks, with the fine native race, appeared very pleasing 
after the desolate landscape and the Moorish Azeneghi of 
Arguim. Here trade was not so profitable as in earlier days 
from the great competition, so Cadamosto, after sufficiently 
satisfying his curiosity about the inhabitants of Senegambia 
the Jalofifs, continued his journey south to a piece of land 
which is now held by the French, under the name of Cayor. 
Here he found a negro King, named Budomel, whose upright- 
ness and friendliness were already famed in Portugal, and 
deservedly, as Cadamosto himself found. He spent fully four 
weeks at the residence of Budomel, which was a hut surrounded 
by seven courts, and situated at a distance of twenty-five miles 
from the coast, and thus had sufficient opportunity of becoming 
acquainted with the land and the people. The fruitfulness of 
the land is so great that the necessaries of life — maize, millet, 
and pulse — flourish in superabundance, although the lazy 
negroes take scarcely any pains in their cultivation, and for 
nine months in the year not a drop of rain falls. Wild animals 
are very numerous ; the most important domestic ones are 
goats and a small species of oxen. Cadamosto's traffic in this 
place went on very smoothly and satisfactorily, and brought him 
in a valuable cargo of slaves, which he bought for horses, cloth, 
and silk. The rest of his goods he hoped to dispose of farther 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 35 

south. After having, with this object in view, passed Cape 
Verde, he was joined by two Portuguese caravels which Prince 
Henry had meanwhile equipped and sent out, under the com- 
■mand of the Genoese nobleman Antonio Usodimare, for traffic 
and exploration. They entered the Gambia together, but the 
negroes, embittered by previous Portuguese kidnapping raids, 
attacked them fiercely, and utterly refused to enter into friendly 
correspondence with them. The intention of the two captains 
to penetrate farther into the country was frustrated by the 
cowardice of their men, and so the return voyage was begun. 
After a rapid and prosperous passage they reached Lagos, 
where Prince Henry received the account of their adventures, 
and the due share of the profits. 

The attempt which Cadamosto had made in vain to enter 
the interior up the great river was repeated more successfully 
the next year by the Portuguese, Diogo Gomez, who passed 
up the Gambia in a caravel as far as Cantor. Here he not 
-only disposed of his wares advantageously, but also received 
valuable information about the kingdom of Melli, caravans 
passing between it and Cantor. He was the first to bring an 
account to Europe of a mighty river called Emin (the middle 
course of the Niger), which ran through Melli, and a report of 
violent wars and revolutions, which were laying waste the 
Soudan, and rendering the communications with it difficult. 

But this year 1456 was to be distinguished by an important 
■discovery. The two Italians — the Venetian, Cadamosto, and 
the Genoese, Usodimare — ^who had met accidentally the year 
before, proceeded together on an expedition, each providing a 
-caravel. The Prince added a third. They left Lagos in May, 
and had sailed prosperously as far as Cape Blanco, when a 
violent storm drove them out into the open sea. On the third 
day, to their surprise, they discovered land ; it proved to be 
the Cape Verde Islands, which had until then been left to the 
west by the Guinea explorers. From Buonavista — as they 

3—2 



o 



6 A Century of Discovery. 



named the first island — they saw to the north a second, Sal,, 
and sailing on to"vvards the south, they touched a third and 
fourth, Santiago and Mago. All the islands were uninhabited, 
but the soil seemed good, and water was abundant. Pigeons 
were very numerous, and so tame that they could be taken 
with the hand ; and there were large turtles, the flesh of which 
was a great delicacy. The Italians sailed on Avithout troubling 
themselves to explore all the islands of the group. They were 
not thoroughly investigated until six years later, when Diogo 
Gomez and the Genoese Antonio de Noli visited them. They 
found that the islands lay in two groups, and although they 
were mountainous and partly of volcanic origin, yet were well 
adapted for cultivation. The immigration of Portuguese agri- 
culturists immediately began, but unfortunately their descen- 
dants — who now number little more than 100,000 over eighty 
square miles — live in a miserable condition, from the mis- 
management of the Portuguese Government. The state takes 
no care of them beyond requiring the customary dues, and yet 
if irrigation were undertaken with the support of the state, and 
the valuable productions of the islands — salt, coffee, palm-oil^ 
&c. — fostered, this group might be restored to an equally favour- 
able condition with Madeira and the Azores. 

On their farther journey the two Italian.? again entered the 
Gambia, where this time they were received more amicably. 
Sixty miles from the coast, at the residence of the negro 
Prince Battimansa, to which they were conducted, they began 
a traffic with the blacks, which was carried on very briskly. 
The heat becoming unendurable, they returned to the ships, 
and sailed still farther south. They touched at the mouth oF 
the river Casamansa, so called after a negro prince of that name, 
then at Rio Grande, and lastly at the Bissagos Islands, which 
were inhabited by negroes, and where they would gladly have 
stayed longer. The flotilla arrived safely at Lagos in the 
year 1456. Their new discoveries, and the satisfactory results- 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 2)7 

of their trading speculations, ensured them an honourable 
reception with the Prince. Cadamosto undertook no more 
expeditions, and, after some years spent in Portugal, returned, 
a wealthy man, to his native city. But although not himself 
visiting the coast of Africa, he certainly, as long as he re- 
mained in Portugal, took part in the profitable trade with 
Guinea; and his interest in the land and people of the tropics, 
which makes his account so valuable, certainly did not flag. 
"We owe to him a very exact report of an expedition made by 
■the Captain Pero de Cintra, the materials for which he received 
from an old secretary of his who took part in it. This voyage 
•of Pero de Cintra took place in the year 1461. It extended 
beyond the Bissagos Islands, along a mountainous and beauti- 
fully-wooded shore, rising towards the south-east to a con- 
siderable range of mountains. On account of the thunder, 
which resounded ceaselessly from the clouds hanging round 
.these mountains, they named them Sierra Leone, the Lion 
Mountains — a name which a great part of the coast still bears. 
The voyage extended a short distance beyond Cape Mesurado, 
a.s far as six degrees north latitude, where the shore was 
•covered by a splendid forest — the Bosque de Santa Maria. 

Prince Henry had not been able to take any share in the 
equipment of this expedition — a year before he was laid to 
rest in the quiet cloister of Batalha. The last years of his 
life had been troubled by the African campaigns of his ad- 
venturous nephew, Alfonso V. The attack on Alcac^ar el 
Seguir, a harbour between Cintra and Tangier, which the 
-King made in the year 1458, was brought to a prosperous 
issue chiefly by the wise counsel and energy of the Prince. 
In the land which had witnessed the glorious deeds of his 
youth the Prince found a fitting theatre for the achieve- 
ments of his old age. He led the storming party, to him the 
town surrendered, and it was he who protected from deeds of 
violence the Moorish p-arrison as it marched out. But the 



o 



8 A Century of Discovery. 



exertions which he had made seriously affected his health,, 
and, after a tedious illness, death released him from his suffer- 
ings, November loth, 1460, aged sixty-six. 

In him the world lost no common man. Indeed, if a man's- 
title to greatness in any way depends upon important results 
following earnest strivings, he may well be called Prince Henry 
the Great ; for he was the originator of that great work of 
discovery which finally opened the way to India and gave to- 
us a New World. And if the halo of brilliant success which 
surrounds the names of Vasco de Gama and Christopher 
Columbus is wanting to him, yet surely there was truer gran- 
deur in the patience which struggled for ten years against 
superstition and ill-will, and in the perseverance with which 
he pursued the object which he had set before him. Certainly 
he was far from attaining this object, and it was many years 
before the men appeared who grasped the costly prize ; but 
he was the first who saw it — who saw it in the distance — and 
prepared the way for its attainment. Our knowledge of the 
west coast of Africa was by him extended twenty degrees ;. 
the discovery of fruitful islands and the profitable trade with 
the blacks considerably increased the prosperity of his country; 
the Portuguese seamanship, previously so rude that Cape 
Bojador for many years prevented any farther advance, was,, 
by his fostering care, so improved that Cadamosta pronounced 
the Portuguese the best sailors in the world ; and, what was- 
the most important of all, he inspired the people of Portugal,, 
who at first watched his proceedings with indifference, with- 
an ardent thirst for discovery. And he succeeded in effecting,- 
all this without possessing attractive personal qualities or' 
winning eloquence. On the contrary, the hermit of Sagre was- 
of a stern exterior, taciturn, and unsociable. 

Unmarried, with no fancy for women's society, surrounded 
only by grave men, to whom he was bound by common scien- 
tific aspirations, Prince Henry spent a long life, striving after' 



Prince Henry the Navigator. 39 

one object which made him indifferent to all the pleasures of 
the world. How he shared in the details of the work, how he 
helped Master Jacob in the preparation of his charts, is well 
known. Apparently he wrote with his own hand the work, 
" The History of the Discoveries of Prince Henry," the loss of 
which is much to be deplored. His contemporaries were far 
from being just to him, and it is therefore all the more the 
duty of posterity to recognise his merits. A man, high in 
rank, thus earnestly and unselfishly devoting his whole life to 
the realisation of a great idea, becomes the benefactor of his 
country, of Europe, of the human race, and has, in a much 
higher degree than he himself ever imagined, carried out the 
beautiful and modest motto which he assumed at his knight- 
hood on the taking of Ceuta — " Talent de bien faire." 



CHAPTER III. 

DIOGO CAM AND MARTIN BEHAIM. 

The Prince's heir^ Alfonso V., unfortunately had no desire 
to tread in the footsteps of his uncle. Plans of conquest oc- 
cupied his active mind. Repeated incursions into North 
Africa put him in possession of the Moorish towns of Arzilla 
and Tangier, and justified his adoption of the proud title, 
" King of the Algarves on both sides of the sea." He was 
less successful in his long struggle with his Castilian neigh- 
bours. After the death of King Henry IV. of Castile, Alfonso 
was betrothed to his young daughter, and laid claim to the 
Castilian throne in virtue of this alliance. But the bloody 
and costly war which the defence of this claim involved ended 
in his total overthrow, in spite of heroic deeds of arms. His 
opponents, Isabella, the sister of the late King, and her hus- 
band, the heir to Arragon, so fiercely inflamed the warlike 
pride and national hatred of the Castilians against Portugal, 
that Alfonso was forced to retreat into his own kingdom, and, 
after a vain attempt to interest Louis XL of France in his 
behalf, was compelled to make peace. In order to obtain 
this he had to sacrifice his bride, the unhappy Princess Joanna, 
who was forced to take the veil in a Portuguese convent. This 
peace, which was made in 1479, was of long duration, and had 
a beneficial effect upon the foreign possessions of the two 
states. The sovereignty of the Portuguese King over all lands 
from Cape Non to the Indies, together with all the adjoining 
seas and islands, over the Madeiras, the Azores, and the Cape 



Diogo Cam and Martin Behaiin. 41 

Verde Islands, and over the conquests in the kingdom of 
Fez, was solemnly recognised. Without the permission of 
tke King of Portugal, the Castilians were not allowed to trade 
in those lands and islands ; while, on the other hand, the Kings 
of Castile retained the Canary Islands, and reserved to them- 
selves the conquest of Granada. 

A very considerable sum had already flowed into the Portu- 
guese treasury from the lands discovered by Prince Henry the 
Navigator, especially from the sugar plantations of Madeira. 
The revenues of the Cape Verde Islands and the tolls paid 
by traders in Arguim were farmed at a high rate ; and the 
ivory trade, of which the Crown retained the monopoly, 
steadily increased in value. Also from the trade on the 
Guinea coast King Alfonso wished to draw something, and 
for this purpose he entered into a negotiation with the rich 
merchant Ferdinand Gomez, in Lisbon. From the year 1469 
Gomez agreed to pay yearly the sum of 500 cruzados for the 
trade from the mouth of the Senegal to Sierra Leone, and he 
promised to explore a hundred leagues of the coast every year 
from the Bosque de Santa Maria. In order to carry out this 
last article of the agreement, unquestionably the hardest, 
Gomez made friends with the most experienced Portuguese 
sailors. Unfortunately no record whatever has been kept of 
these expeditions, a negligence which is the more striking 
when compared with the care shown by Prince Henry in pre- 
serving accounts of those undertaken under his auspices. 
From later sources we learn that, in 1470, Joas de Santarem 
discovered the Gold Coast, now called Ashantee, north of the 
Gulf of Guinea. This gulf the Portuguese ships boldly crossed 
in a south-westerly direction, and thus discovered Prince's 
Island, St. Thomas's Island, and Annabon — of course, crossing 
the equator. These achievements, and the accounts brought 
hy the sailors of the luxuriant vegetation and dense popula- 
tion of these coasts, destroyed the last remains of the delusion 



4^ A Cenhtry of Discovery. 

with regard to the impossibility of supporting either animal 
or vegetable life in these tropical lands, and of the dangers 
certain to be incurred by ships in those latitudes. Thtis. 
Gomez honestly and unobtrusively carried out his contract,, 
and was rewarded for his services by being raised to the rank 
of a noble. On the death of Alfonso, in 148 1, Cape St. 
Catherine had been attained, a point 2 deg. 30 min. south 
latitude. 

The death of the King brought about a great reaiction. 
The young King, Joas II., to whom Portugal was indebted 
for the peace with Castile, earnestly encouraged everything 
which tended to the Avelfare of his kingdom ; but the African 
discoveries he took up with the zeal of an enthusiast. This 
may perhaps be partly accounted for by the fact that he was 
the author of works both on geography and astronomy. 

Immediately on his accession he sent out a large squadron, 
under the command of one of his most trusted servants, Diego 
d'Azambuja, in order to found a port which should not only 
give a greater impulse to the trade with the blacks, but should 
also render assistance to expeditions sailing farther south. 
Azambuja chose for this purpose a point on the Gold Coast, 
where he landed, on the 19th of January, 1482, 500 soldiers 
and 100 artisans. 

The ruler of the country, Caramansa, with whom they had 
requested an interview, appeared with a numerous retinue. 
The weapons of the negroes consisted of spears and shields, 
or bows and arrows. The chiefs were adorned with gold rings, 
and were followed by servants carrying their shields, and also . 
seats, lest their masters should at any time feel fatigued. 
Surrounded by all the splendour of his court, Caramansa ap- 
peared, striding proudly forward, his arms and legs adorned 
with gold rings, and wearing round his neck a band, from 
which hung a number of little bells, and his beard being orna- 
mented by little sprigs of gold. After a ceremonious greet- 



Diogo Cam and Martin Behaim. 43- 

ing, Azambuja made a speech, in which he expressed the wish 
of the King of Portugal that his brother Caramansa would 
accept Christianity, conclude a treaty of commerce with him, 
and allow the Portuguese merchants to build a fort. This 
last demand appeared to the black King not only unneces- 
sary, but even likely to be hurtful. He said he feared that 
constant intercourse between the blacks and whites would 
lead to inevitable quarrels. As an illustration, he pointed out 
the hostility between the sea and the land, each one trying to 
rule the other. " On this account," he said, " it would be 
better to remain as they were before, and he would very gladly 
trade as of old with the ' ragged ' ships." It was not until 
after a long discussion, and much persuasion, that consent 
was wrung from the wise negro. The building of the fort,, 
which received the name of San Jorge da Mena — now called 
Elmina — was immediately begun ; and here Azambuja re- 
mained with sixty men, having sent the rest of the fleet back, 
to Portugal. 

Around the fort a settlement was quickly formed, which, as 
early as the year i486, could claim the name and privileges 
of a town. This rapid growth was principally in consequence 
of the gold trade, which was carried on from this place with, 
the interior, and which gave its name to the whole coast.. 
Azambuja himself afterwards returned to Portugal, and rose 
high in the favour of his King, by whose side he was ever found 
in the most critical moments. For the next few years Joas 
II. had hard work to hold down the rebellious barons of Por- 
tugal. He ventured on the execution of the first peer, the 
Duke of Braganza, and did not shrink from murdering, with 
his own hand, his cousin and brother-in-law, the Duke of 
Viseu ; but, notwithstanding, his interest in the Guinea trade 
did not abate. He obtained (1484) from Pope Innocent VIII. 
the ratification of his claim to all the African coasts and is- 
lands as far as the Indies ; indeed, the Pope added a clause 



44 ^ Century of Discovery. 

by which all discoveries made by other nations in this direc- 
tion were to fall to the Portuguese. On the strength of this 
the King added to his titles that of Lord of Guinea. At the 
same time he ordered that every ship should carry on board 
some stone pillars {padravi), on which should be written, in 
Latin and Portuguese, the name of the King and the captain, 
with the date of the year. These pillars were to be erected 
on the newly-discovered coasts, as a sign of their being taken 
possession of by Portugal. 

The first man who sailed under these new orders was Diogo 
Cam, who in 1484 passed Cape St. Catherine, and reached 
the mouth of a mighty stream^ now called the Congo, which 
the natives called Zaire, but to which Cam gave the name of 
Rio . do Padrao, the Pillar River, because there he set up the 
hrst pillar. He sailed some miles up the stream and found 
the banks thickly peopled. Taking four natives on board as 
hostages for some of his men who ventured to remain in the 
country for the purpose of exploring it, he set sail, promising 
to return. He proceeded prosperously along the coast as far 
as Cape Serra, near Whale Bay, in twenty-two degrees south 
latitude. 

On his return voyage he entered the Zaire, and exchanged 
the natives for his own people, who spoke very highly of the 
treatment they had received from the natives. A very lively 
intercourse was begun between them, and Cam understood 
how to manage the negroes so well that the chief gave him 
ivory and garments curiously made of palm leaves as presents 
for King John, and sent a request that he would give him priests 
to baptise him and his people. This response was most readily 
responded to, and thus the Portuguese laid the foundation of 
their dominion on those coasts, where they still possess the 
so-called kingdoms of Angola and Benguela. 

These states consist of about seventeen thousand square 
miles, with about five hundred thousand inhabitants, who ac- 



Diogo Cain and Martin Behaim. 45 

knov/ledge the Portuguese supremacy, paying tribute and 
providing troops when called upon. Congo itself has passed 
out of the hands of the Portuguese, and the Christianity which 
they planted there — at the end of the seventeenth century 
there were about one hundred Christian churches — has been 
rooted out. What kind of Christianity it was may be guessed 
from the fact that one priest baptised on one day five thousand 
heathen, and that most of those who had the charge of souls 
there not only tolerated the slave trade, but themselves took 
part in it, and grew rich by it. Even in Angola and Benguela 
the activity of the Government was exerted in the slave trade. 
The capital, San Paul de Loanda, among all the places on the 
coast, was most constantly and for the longest period engaged 
in it, and so enormous was the number of victims that the effect 
was felt to the very centre of Africa. Since the philanthropic 
zeal of England has put an end to the slave trade on the west 
coast of Africa, the whole commerce of the Portuguese 
dominions there has been stopped, and it appears unlikely 
that the wretched administration will succeed in developing 
the resources of the rich lands. 

Diogo Cam was accompanied on this voyage by Martin 
Behaim, the celebrated German geographer. He was born 
in 1459 i^ the town of Nuremberg, and was descended from^ 
the illustrious family of Schwarzbach. After the early death 
of his father the gifted youth was taken care of by his uncle, 
Leonard Behaim, who gave him a good education. Like 
most youths of good family, he devoted himself to trade, and 
during his journeys in the Netherlands learnt early to know 
the world. In the Netherlands he determined in 1480 to visit 
the Azores, to which islands at that time numbers of emigrants 
from Flanders were flocking. Here he entered into intimate 
relations with the principal families, and in i486 married the 
daughter of Jobst van Heurter, governor of Fayal. But at 
the same time he had acquired great influence in Lisbon, and 



46 A Cent2L7y of Discovery. 

made himself a name. In the circle of famous mathematicians 
and astronomers, who assembled there to turn to scientific ad- 
vantage the discoveries of the Portuguese sailors, and by cal- 
culations and conjectures to plan new ones, Behaim met with 
a deferential reception, because he could boast that in his 
early days he had enjoyed the acquaintance of the greatest 
astronomer of those times, Johann Mtiller, of Konigsberg in 
Franconia, also called Regiomontanus. 

This great scholar had resided between 147 1 and 1475 at 
Nuremberg, before he was called as cardinal to Rome, and it 
is probable that young Behaim, inquiring and eager for know- 
ledge, may have been his pupil. At any rate the astronomical 
knowledge of the latter produced an impression on the learned 
society in Portugal, and his reputation, which spread rapidly, 
drew upon him the attention of King John. He was made 
member of the scientific commission which consisted of the 
president. Bishop Diego Ortiz, and the two Jewish physicians 
to the King, Josef and Rodrigo. It was at that time engaged 
in drawing up tables of the sun's altitude for use on the 
other side of the equator. In consequence of the want of 
acquaintance with the southern stars, the altitude of the 
sun was the only means of reckoning the geographical lati- 
tude when the polar star was lost sight of by passing the 
equator. This nautical commission, as it appears, completed 
its task by recommending to the sailors the use of the astro- 
labe, an instrument which had hitherto only been used on 
land, and which calculated the latitude by the culmination of 
the most important stars. The instrument itself they im- 
proved, made it of metal, and so arranged it that it could be 
hung up. They also furnished it with tables in which they 
laid down the course of the constellations in the southern 
hemisphere. This work brought Behaim into close intercourse 
with the King, and the clever and accomplished German won 
so high a place in his confidence that he employed him on 



Diogo Cmn and Martin Behaim. 47 

many occasions in difficult private affairs. In 1484 Behaim, 
impelled by the wish to make himself acquainted with the 
■wonders of Africa, accompanied Cam as cosmographer, and 
received equal honours with Cam on his return. He was 
made a knight of the Order of Christ, and at the ceremony 
the King himself girded him with his sword, and the Crown 
Prince Emanuel put on his spurs. Overwhelmed with gifts, 
he returned to the Azores, where he settled down and spent 
the next io.^ years in quiet domestic happiness. But home- 
sickness seized upon him, and he undertook the long journey 
to Nuremberg, and spent almost two years (1491, 1492) in his 
old home, admired by his fellow-citizens, who hung on the 
lips of their travelled countryman, and would only let him^'go 
-when he had carried out their wish and made a globe showing 
.all the known lands. 

This globe, made of wood covered with parchment, i foot 
8 inches in diameter, is still in the possession of the Behaims 
in Nuremberg, and is specially curious as furnishing a faithful 
representation of the state of geographical knowledge in the 
very year in which the discovery of a new world was to bring 
about so mighty a revolution. 

The west coast of Africa is exactly and faithfully delineated 
.as far as the Cape of Good Hope, which had already been 
discovered by Bartholomew Diaz, and the places where, ac- 
cording to the orders of the King, stone pillars had been 
erected are marked by Portuguese flags. But the east of 
Africa and the coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean are 
represented in a fanciful manner. The remarks and descriptions 
.also contain, mixed up with what is correct, a number 6f absurd 
statements, and the authority quoted with regard to South 
Asia and East Africa is Marco Polo, the Venetian, who, in the 
years 1270 — 1295, made his astounding journey through 
Asia to Mongolia and China. The most curious part of the 
globe is the expanse of sea between the west coast of Europe 



48 A Century of Discovery. 

and the east coast of Asia. Of the existence of the New- 
World, which was discovered that very year, Behaim had no 
notion. On the contrary, he filled the space with innumerable 
islands, among which was Cipang (Japan), and farther east he 
marked two great lonely islands, St. Brandon's Land and 
Antilha, to which he attached as remarks the absurd old fables. 

In the year 1493 he returned to Fayal, which, however, he 
must have left again in the same year, to execute a secret 
commission of the King's in Flanders. On this journey he 
was very unfortunate ; twice he fell into the hands of pirates, 
and in England he became so dangerously ill that he thought 
his last hour was come. Notwithstanding, he succeeded in 
accomplishing the King's commission to his satisfaction, and 
then he could allow himself to think of domestic bliss in Fayal, 
which had become to him a second home. We know nothing 
of him from 1494 to 1507; but some remarks of the great 
Magalhaens make it not improbable that he took part in one 
of the expeditions to South America, perhaps that of Christian 
Jaquez in 1503, and attained a point so far south that he was 
able to establish the existence of the important highway 
which Magalhaens a few years later discovered. 

In 1507 death overtook him in Lisbon, where he was then 
residing. Apparently he was in bad circumstances, for after 
the death of King John, 1495, the salary which he had received 
as envoy was withdrawn. He died in a German hospital, and 
was buried in a Dominican church. His only son_, Martin, 
resided from 1519 — 1520 among his relations in Nuremberg, 
who, in vain, tried to make him worthy of his father. After 
that he disappeared ; but there is still living in Nuremberg a 
family of his name which was ennobled m 168 1. 



CHAPTER IV. 

BARTHOLOMEW DIAZ AND PEDRO DE COVILHAM. 

Shortly after the departure of Cam, Joas Alfonso de Aveiro 
had been despatched by King John for the special purpose of 
exploring the Bight of Benin. Previous expeditions had 
crossed it in a south-easterly direction, but its north coast 
had not been visited. Aveiro found it inhabited by a popula- 
tion of strong healthy negroes. Their chief came to meet the 
Portuguese, and sent an ambassador with them on their return 
to request that the King would give them Christian priests, 
and would establish a factory there. The desire was willingly 
responded to, but when it was discovered that the cunning 
-chief had merely designed to enrich himself by the slave trade, 
and that neither he nor his people showed any intention of 
being baptised, the factory was abandoned ; and this was 
-done the more readily because many of the whites had fallen 
victims to the fatal climate. 

From another point of view the exploration of Benin 
promised important results. Every ship engaged in the work 
of discovery was, by command of the King, bound to carry 
samples of all the Indian spices, in order to make clear to the 
natives what they were looking for. Now it was from Benin 
that the first African pepper was brought, and this aroused in 
the King the hope that his people would be able to compete 
with the Venetians. But the pepper proved to be inferior to 
the Indian, and therefore was of less value in the spice market. 
The King at first comforted himself with the hope that this 

4 



50 A Century of Discovery. 

arose from a mistake in the treatment of the fruit ; but ex- 
perience has proved him wrong and shown that the African 
pepper is a different and inferior kind. 

Encouraged by Cam's discoveries, King John sent out a new 
squadron in July or August, i486, consisting of two caravels 
and a small ship laden with provisions. It was commanded 
by Bartholomew Diaz de Novaes, a distinguished seaman, of 
whose antecedents we know nothing, except that he was in 
the service of the court and belonged to a family which had 
already produced many daring sailors, am.ong whom probably- 
was Diniz Diaz, who had discovered Cape Verde in 1445. 
Joas Infante, a nobleman, commanded under him : they took 
with them some negroes and negresses whom Cam had brought 
home, and who now, having mastered the Portuguese language, 
were to be returned to their homes. They had been very 
kindly treated, and before they were set on shore were decked 
out in bright garments and dazzling ornaments, in order to 
fill their countrymen with astonishment at the power and 
riches of the King of Portugal. They were also made ta 
promise to penetrate as far as possible into the interior, and 
to inquire everywhere for the country of Prester John. A 
large reward was to be given to any one who should bring 
information. So closely was the kingdom of this Christian 
Priest-king connected in people's minds with the land of 
spice ! 

Having accomplished this commi-ssion, the little fleet sailed 
on towards the south, and had soon left behind Cam's utmost 
limit. In the neighbourhood of Walvisch Bay the first pillar 
was set up, and from the contrary winds which obliged him to- 
keep constantly tacking, Diaz gave the name of Angra das 
Voltas, or the Bay of Tacks, to the bay now called St. Helena's 
Bay. In order to escape the dangers which threatened him in 
such unfavourable weather on an unknown coast, Diaz made 
for the open sea. Here, however, the ship was overtaken by a 



Bartholomew Diaz and Pedi^o de Covilkam. 5T 

tremendous storm. For fourteen days it was driven wildly hither 
and thither ; tremendous waves broke over it ; and the cold, 
which by this time was sensibly greater, took such hold upon 
the wearied crew that, when at length the sky cleared, they 
were scarcely in a condition to prepare for the homeward 
voyage. They tried to reach the coast of Africa, but they had 
been driven so far towards the east that their efforts were 
fruitless. This at least was their first idea, but in a little while 
the suspicion came across them that perhaps they had passed 
the extreme south of Africa, and thus accomplished an impor- 
tant part of Prince Henry's plan. They steered therefore to 
the north, and the coast was soon reached. 

They came to anchor in a large bay near a small rocky 
island, which they baptised Santa Cruz, and there they erected 
a stone pillar. This island is situated in the north-west corner 
of what is now called Algoa Bay. From the numerous woolly- 
headed natives who were pasturing their flocks on the shore^ 
Diaz called this bay Angra d.os Vaqueiros, or the Cowherds' 
Bay. The joy which Diaz would have felt at this prosperous 
issue to his voyage was damped in a most vexatious manner. 
His crew began to murmur and demand to return home, com- 
plaining of the hardships they had endured, and of the loss of 
the ship which contained the greater part of their provisions. 
Diaz called a council of his officers, and they also were unani- 
mous for a return. He was therefore obliged to yield, but 
made it a condition that the ships should hold on their present 
course for three days, in order that they might discover whether 
the coast turned towards the north. The three days expired, 
and the coast still continuing to lie west and east, they turned 
round at the mouth of a river which they named Rio do In- 
fante, from the second comimander. It was a very great sorrow 
to Diaz to be obliged to relinquish the wish to be the first to 
carry the Portuguese flag into the Indian Sea. He clung to 
the pillar which he had erected on Santa Cruz, and took leave 

4—2 



52 A Century of Discovery. 

of it with as much grief, says the historian Barros, as if it had 
been a child whom he was leaving for ever. 

On the return voyage he soon found the spot where the 
west and south coasts of Africa meet, and on this important 
point set up a third pillar. In remembrance of the fearful 
tempest by which the ship had been overtaken near this spot, 
Diaz called it the Cape of Storms (Cabo Tormentoso). On 
the coast of Congo the lost vessel was recovered, and after 
visiting San Jorge da Mina to take on board a quantity of 
gold-dust, Diaz directed his course homewards. 

In December, 1487^ the fleet entered the Tagus, after a 
voyage of sixteen months and seventeen days. The joy of the 
King was extreme ; not only a strip of coast 375 miles long 
had been explored, but, what was much more important, it had 
been proved that it was possible to sail round Africa, and the 
Indian Ocean was open to the Portuguese. In the height of 
his exultation, and to show to the world the importance of 
the discovery, he altered the name of the Stormy Cape to the 
Cape of Good Hope, which the south point of Africa still 
bears. 

Diaz was richly rewarded and highly honoured. King John 
might perhaps have sent him out again had he not been pre- 
vented by troubles which came upon him. His successor, 
Emanuel, immediately after his accession, charged him with 
the preparation of a squadron. This squadron he accompanied 
only as far as the Cape Verde Islands, leaving it then with his 
ship for San Jorge da Mina, according to orders which he had 
received, for it was the sagacious but ingenious principle of the- 
Portuguese crown never to reward a discoverer with the con- 
duct of the next expedition. This method of proceeding 
relieved the King of the burden of gratitude, for when a num- 
ber of persons took part in a discovery there was no one person 
in particular to whom he felt indebted. Once more we hear 
of the noble Diaz in an expedition under the command of 




BARTHOLOMEW DIAZ TAKING LEAVE OF SANTA CRUZ. 



Bartholomew Diaz and Pedi^o de Covilham. 53 

Cabral. Near the Cape of Good Hope a violent storm over- 
took the fleet, and on the 23rd of May, 1500, he found a watery 
grave beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The year 1487 — rendered such an auspicious one for Portu- 
gal by the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope — was made 
further noteworthy by tidings received from the East. 

From the negro ambassador of the King of Benin it had 
been learnt that about twenty months' journey from Benin 
there was a powerful Prince named Ogane. The sound of the 
name and certain striking peculiarities made the King quite 
certain that this Ogane was no other than Prester John, the 
ruler of the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia. It appeared to 
him most desirable to enter into communication with this 
mighty Prince and to make sure of his friendship, as it would 
be very valuable to the Portuguese in their advance towards 
India. For this purpose he sent out two men who were good 
Arabic scholars and thoroughly acquainted with African 
affairs — Pedro de Covilham and Alfonso de Payva. They left 
Lisbon in May, 1487, and in the character of merchants reached 
Alexandria safely. Here they discovered that though Prester 
John, or, in other words, the King of Abyssinia, was undoubtedly 
a Christian, he did not possess the slightest influence in Indian 
trade. Hereupon they separated. While Payva went direct 
to Abyssinia — where he very shortly died — Covilham, still in 
disguise, pursued his way to India. There he visited the places 
most important for trade, collected valuable information about 
the price of Indian wares and Arabian commerce, and returned 
by Ormuz, from which place he took advantage of a favour- 
able opportunity to visit the east coast of Africa in an Arabian 
ship. He went to Sofala and Madagascar, and after a prospe- 
rous journey arrived safely in Cairo, where, instead of finding 
his companion, whom he had arranged to meet there, he re- 
ceived the news of his death. But there were awaiting him two 
messengers from the King of Portugal, Jews, one a learned 



54 A Century of Discovery. 

Rabbin, the other a poor shoemaker from Lamego, who 
brought him orders to proceed, instead of Payva, to Prester 
John in Abyssinia. Before Covilham set out he wrote an 
account of his journey, and of the impressions to which they 
had given rise, and sent it back by the two Jews to Portugal. 
He was very well received in Abyssinia, whose King, Escander 
(Alexander), felt himself very much flattered by such an atten- 
tion from a European sovereign. He was at first in hopes of 
being able very soon to return to Portugal, but the sudden 
death of Escander rendered this impossible. The new Prince 
held firmly to the old principle of Abyssinia : " Let strangers 
into your country, but never let them out." In vain were all 
the attempts of the Portuguese to procure his release. 

Rodriga de Lima, whom King Emanuel sent to Abyssinia 
in 1520 — a time v/hen the Portuguese power was ruling the 
whole of the Indian Ocean, and was dominant even in the Red 
Sea — received for answer that they had given the stranger a 
wife and property, and that he could live at ease with his 
family, and altogether had nothing to wish for. 

Pedro de Covilham died in Abyssinia without seeing his 
home again, but the history which he drew up in Cairo 
reached the King, and disclosed to him many important 
matters. It informed him that of all the harbours on the 
coast of India, Calicut was the most important, its ruler, 
Zamorin, possessing authority over all the other Princes of 
Malabar, the west coast of India. It was chiefly from this 
place that Arabian ships fetched the precious spices, pepper 
and ginger being produced in the land itself, and cinnamon 
and cloves being brought there by ships from countries in the " 
far east. The profit of a direct intercourse with the Indian 
harbours would necessarily be very important, for from 
Covilham's account it appeared the price of spices in Calicut 
was less by three times, or even five times, than in Alexandria, 
so that they might reckon safely on annihilating the Venetian 



Bartholomew Diaz and Pedro de Covilham. 55 

trade, if Portuguese ships could fetch the wares from Malabar 
itself. 

Of the east coast of Africa also Covilham gave most im- 
portant information. He had been assured in Sofala that a 
voyage along the coast towards the south-west was obstructed 
by no danger or difficulty. Between East Africa and India, 
as he could testify from what he had himself seen, lay an open 
sea, constantly traversed by Arabian ships. So he concluded 
his account — of which, unfortunately, we possess only an 
abstract — by earnestly pressing the King to continue, un- 
tiringly, the expeditions to the coast of Africa. " When once 
the south point of that continent is found" — that it had already 
been discovered by Bartholomew Diaz, he could not know — 
"" it will be easy to reach Sofala and Zanzibar." There a 
pilot must be taken on board, a native pilot, and the long 
■desired Indian paradise will soon be reached. Information 
so certain and assurances so confident naturally inflamed the 
ardour of the King. Only one link was wanting to complete 
the chain between India and Portugal. He began immediately 
to prepare an imposing fleet which should sail round the Cape 
of Good Hope and find its way, by Covilham's directions, 
India. But a terrible event occurred which ruined the ambi- 
tious plans of the King. His only son, Prince Alfonso, a 
handsome accomplished youth, whom his father idolised, was 
killed by a fall from his horse only a few months after his 
marriage with Isabella, the probable heiress of Castile and 
Arragon. 

The unhappy father was utterly shattered by this terrible 
blow. When, after a long sorrowful retirement, he again 
appeared in public, not only did his altered countenance 
testify to the deepest anguish, but his character seemed to 
have entirely lost the energy and ardour which had been its 
distinguishing mark. The departure of the fleet, whose com- 
mander had been already named, was constantly delayed ; 



56 A Cenhcry of Discovery. 

and when, in 1493, Columbus, on his return from his first 
journey, entered Lisbon, it was with bitter jealousy that King 
John found that the prize for which once he had striven sO' 
hard had fallen to the Castilians. But even jealousy could not 
overcome the dejection into which he had fallen, and he con- 
cluded that it was now too late to enter the lists with his more 
fortunate rivals. Until his death, which occurred on October 
25th, 1495, there was a complete cessation of all expeditions. 
Thus was Portugal, when it had almost reached the goal 
again, hindered by a freak of fortune, and obliged to share 
with a neighbouring people the prize which otherwise would 
have been hers alone. For there is no doubt that the journey 
of Columbus would never have taken place had the Portuguese 
previously landed in India, the country which he continually 
hoped to reach. Certain it is that it would have been much 
longer before the New World was discovered, and it would be 
impossible to divine what the next century would have been, 
had not the treasures of America made the Kings of Spain the 
masters of Europe. Thus the sudden death of a youth became 
in the hand of Providence the cause of the most complete 
revolution in the whole history of Europe. 



CHAPTER V. 

VASCO DA GAM A. 

King Emanuel, to whom history has given the honourable 
surname of Great, at once brought new Kfe into the languish- 
ing plans of discovery and reaped the costly harvest sown by 
his predecessors, Prince Henry and King John II. At his 
command the preparation of a squadron of four vessels by 
Bartholomew Diaz was urged on with great zeal and with 
such success that the expedition set sail from Restello, a port 
in the immediate neighbourhood of Lisbon, on the 8th of 
June, 1497. 

The King appointed Vasco da Gama commander, and in 
this choice, which really only confirmed an arrangement 
already made by John II., had selected the- right man for the 
great undertaking. Vasco, who sprang from a distinguished 
family, was born at Sinis, a Portuguese seaport, not far from 
Lisbon, apparently earlier than 1469, which is generally given 
as the year of his birth. The seaman's life to which, following 
the example of his father, he devoted himself led him into the 
African Seas, arid soon gave him an opportunity of displaying 
his striking qualities. His name is first mentioned when, in 
the service of the King, he took possession of all the French 
ships found in the harbours of the kingdom. It was intended 
by this means to avenge the capture by French pirates of a 
caravel laden with gold coming from San Juan da Mina. 
But since King Charles VIII. hastened to make good the 



58 . A Century of Discovery. 

injury and to punish the offender, the affair had no further 
consequences. 

It is unknown how Vasca da Gama succeeded in attracting 
to himself the notice of the King to such a degree that he 
was named commander of the fleet which, following in the 
steps of Bartholomew Diaz and Pedro de Covilham, was to 
penetrate to India. 

He was at this time in the prime of life. While small in 
person, and in later years very corpulent, he pleased every one 
by his dignified bearing and pleasant manners. But affable 
and agreeable as he could be, he was yet fearful in his wrath. 
Then his eye flashed, so that the bravest quailed before his 
glance. Then he knew no sympathy and no mercy, and in 
these bursts of passion was sometimes guilty of deeds of 
wild cruelty such as not even the merciless policy of Portugal 
towards the Moors could justify or excuse. But he possessed 
exactly the qualities necessary for the great undertaking : an 
■€ye which nothing escaped, calm presence of mind, firmness, 
and thorough control over the crew, whose affection, how- 
ever, he knew how to gain by courtesy and a zealous care 
for the welfare of the individual members. All these qualities 
were united in Gama in such, a high degree that it would 
have been difficult to find in Portugal an equally suitable 
person, and the choice reflects high honour on the King who 
made it. 

The want of an account of Gama's expedition from the pen 
of an eye-witness, which has been so much deplored, has been 
supplied since 1858 by the discovery and publication of a 
manuscript written by a sailor named Alvaro Velhes — a manu- 
script which has special worth from its childlike descriptions, 
and at the same time from the keen power of observation 
evidently possessed by its uncultivated author. It bears the 
unpretending title " An Account of a Journey." 

But the deeds of " the great Gama " have been more worthily 



Vasco da Gama. 59 

celebrated by the classical Portuguese poet Camoens, whose 
■'^ Lusiade " (the deeds of Lus, the fabulous ancestor of the 
•Lusitanians or Portuguese) treats Vasco da Gama in the same 
way as the " Odyssey " and the " ^Eneid " treat the heroes 
whose names they bear. 

The squadron, which left Restello on June 8th, 1497, con- 
■sisted of four ships : the St. Gabriel of 120 tons, the St. 
Raphael of 100 tons, the Berrio of 50 tons, and a provision 
ship of 200 tons, which was only to go part of the way. 
Under Vasco da Gama commanded his brother Paul da Gama, 
the experienced sailor Nicholas Coelho, and Gonzalo Nufies, 
who had the charge of the provision ship. 

The fleet was provisioned for three years, with crews 
numbering one hundred and seventy men, and every ship had 
as pilot a man already proved in the squadron of Bartholomew 
Diaz. Before their departure the King himself received the 
sailors and exhorted them to patience and obedience to their 
commander. To Da Gama he presented a silk flag adorned 
with the cross of the Order of Christ and credentials for the 
African and Indian Kings, and exact instructions following 
the reports of Diaz and Covilham. Then Vasco and all his 
men, having confessed, marched to the ships and weighed 
.anchor amidst the good wishes of the crowd of spectators. 

Passing the Canaries, they touched at the Cape Verde 
Islands, to take in meat, wood, and water, and repair the 
damage which some of the ships had incurred in a storm. 
Here Bartholomew Diaz separated from them, to go to his 
post at San Jorge da Mina. Gama himself left on August 
3rd, and held his course in the open sea far to the west of the 
African shore. It was not till the 4th of November that they 
touched the coast, and found a wide bay which received from 
Gam.a the name of St. Helena's Bay. Stopping here some 
days, they had much intercourse with the natives, sometimes 
friendly and sometimes hostile. On November 22nd they sailed 



6o A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

round the Cape of Good Hope, but an unfavourable wind for 
several days prevented them from running into the Bay of 
San Bras, now called Mossel Bay, where the provision ship 
was unladed, and the stores being divided among the three 
ships, it was sent home. 

They found here a large population of a race similar to that 
around St. Helena's Bay. They were Hottentots, of the tribe 
of the Gonaqua, which has since ceased to exist. They had 
large herds of cattle — beautiful fat beasts, mostly of a black 
colour, and so fine that our informant speaks of them as bear- 
ing a comparison with those of his native province, Alemtajo. 
He also praises the musical taste of the savages. "They 
began to play on four or five pipes, one playing loud and the 
others softly, and the harmony was very good for negroes, 
from whom no one expects music. They also began to dance 
in negro fashion, and our captain commanded the trumpets 
to blow, and we danced in our ships, and the captain also 
danced after he had come back to us from the land. After 
the end of the feast we landed at the usual place, and bought 
a black ox for three bracelets, which we ate the next Sunday. 
It was very fat and the meat was good, tasting just like Portu- 
guese beef" 

Unfortunately this concord did not last. Gama, without 
sufficient cause, grew suspicious and made some hostile demon- 
strations, firing four discharges of powder only to frighten the 
natives. The unwonted noise caused such a panic that the 
whole troop fled to the mountains, and were never seen again. 
Besides intercourse with the natives, the sailors amused them- 
selves by shooting the penguins, which were here first seen, and 
hunting seals. Before they finally returned to the ships they 
erected a pillar and a cross on the shore. These, however, 
they saw thrown down by the natives, as they sailed away. 

As they pursued their course towards the east their fleet 
touched some islands, which they called Ilheos Chaos, or the 



Vasco da Gama. 6i 

Flat Islands, but which the English call the Bird Islands. The 
wind changing-, they tried to reach the coast, but the current 
was so strong that they were driven in one night to Santa 
Cruz. Gama's confident bearing reassured the dispirited crew. 
By renewed efforts they succeeded in mastering the stream 
.and making an advance along the coast, which now bent more 
.decidedly to the north-east and north. Just at Christmas-time 
:they sighted a pleasant land, which still bears the name of 
Christmas Land, or Natal. The favourable wind, however, for- 
•.bade any pause here, and they contented themselves with 
viewing the land from a distance. As long as the wind lasted 
it was necessary to use it for their onward progress, and the 
men were now in such spirits that even when obliged, from the 
want of water, to use salt water for cooking, they bore it with- 
out a murmur. However, they found themselves at last forced 
to run into the shore. 

On the loth January, 1498, they landed at the mouth of a 
■small river, the Rio do Cobre. Here they found the land 
rthickly peopled. From the sailor's description, the people 
appear to have been Kaffirs, as is evident from the fact that 
he was surprised at their size, so superior to that of the Hot- 
tentots. In the Kaffirs the Portuguese became acquainted 
v/ith a comparatively civilised people, with whom it was easy 
to hold intercourse. One of the chiefs was soon won over to 
the strangers by the gift of a red jacket and pair of trousers, 
a cap, and a bracelet. Dressed in his new attire, he showed 
himself to his subjects, who testified their admiration by re- 
peated clapping of hands. He received very hospitably into 
his hut a sailor, named Martin Alfonso, who, having lived 
some time in Congo, understood several negro languages, and 
acted as interpreter. He sent him back the next morning to 
the ships, with a present of poultry. Then a very brisk traffic 
was begun between them, and the water-casks were speedily 
filled, Avith the help of the blacks. We are told the natives 



62 A Century of Discovery. 

wore much copper — the rings on their arms and legs, and the 
ornaments in their hair, were all of copper. Besides the 
azagays and the lances, six feet long, the Portuguese noticed 
particularly the daggers with iron points and ivory hilts. The 
natives also understood how to manufacture salt, by dipping 
up the sea-water, and leaving it to evaporate in large flat 
trenches. 

When the Portuguese, after many days, again set sail, they 
named the country the Land of Good People, in memory of 
their pleasant intercourse. The exact spot where they made 
this landing was probably north of Delagoa Bay, at the 
mouth of the river now called Inhambane, south of Cape 
Corrientes. Sailing onward, a flat coast on the left hand was 
discovered ; and as they wanted to make investigations, and 
also to repair the ships, they again anchored at the mouth 
of a great river, now called the Zambesi. The natives of this 
region were negroes, and manifested a most friendly disposi- 
tion. Both men and women were well formed, but the latter 
had the strange custom of piercing the upper lip in three 
placeSj and inserting bent pieces of tin as ornaments. They 
lived on corn and vegetables, which they cultivated in the 
extremely fertile soil, and with which they willingly supplied 
the Portuguese. 

The sailors here learnt with extreme joy that they were 
approaching civilised parts, and therefore near attaining the 
object of their voyage. " After we had been two or three 
days at that place," says Alvaro Velhes, " two of the principal 
men came to visit us. One wore a silk turban, with bright-. 
coloured stripes, and the other a cap of green satin. They 
brought with them a young man, who, as far as we could 
understand by their signs, came from a country a long way 
off", and had seen ships as large as ours. We were exceedingly 
rejoiced at this account, because it seemed as if we were ap- 
proaching the lands we were seeking." 




VASCO DA GAMA AND THE KAFFIR CHIEF. 



Vasco da Gama. <oTy 

Before their departure they erected a pillar, and named the 
stream the River of Good Tidings. But the long visit to the 
flat marshy coasts had unpleasant consequences. A great 
number of the sailors were attacked by a violent sickness. 
From the symptoms — swellings of the hands and feet, and 
festering soreness of the gums, which made it painful and diffi- 
cult to eat — they called it scorbutus, or scurvy, a disease until 
then unknown. The medical knowledge of Paul da Gama, 
and the extreme care which the commander took of the sick, 
checked the disease before it had got a hold, and a supply 
of fresh meat put a stop to it altogether. 

Vasco da Gama set sail again on February 24th, and the 
next day three little islands appeared ; but he continued his 
course towards the north without stopping, and did not come 
to anchor again until March 2nd, when they reached an island 
separated from the coast by a narrow strait, the entrance to 
which was much impeded by shallows. On this Island of 
Mozambique they became perfectly assured of their approach 
to the civilised East. The copper-coloured inhabitants were 
Mohammedans, and understood the Arabic language. Their 
clothing was very rich — bright-striped robes of linen or cotton, 
turbans of glistening silks interwoven with gold thread, and 
Moorish swords and daggers. In the harbour lay Moorish 
merchant-ships, very large, but without decks, and the 
planks being held together without nails, by means of bast, 
which was prepared from the shell of the cocoa-nut ; the 
sails consisted of matting made of palm-leaves, and the 
whole rigging was very scanty. Yet these miserable vessels 
made .long voyages, and, to the astonishment of the Admiral, 
were well provided with compasses, quadrants, and charts. 
They were laden with gold and silver, cloth, cloves, pepper, 
pearls, and precious stones ; and the natives stated that all 
these valuable commodities were to be found in a country not 
far distant. "These precious stones, pearls, and spice so 



64 A Century of Discovery. 

abounded that there was no need to buy them ; they could 
be picked up by the basketful. The way thither was ren- 
dered dangerous by shallows, but all along the coast there 
were towns. We should also pass a very rich island, the in- 
habitants of which were half Christian and half Mohammedan." 
The reports about Prester John also were very numerous. 
Vasco was told that his kingdom was quite near ; that he pos- 
sessed towns by the sea inhabited by rich merchants ; but that 
he himself lived in the interior, and could only be visited by un- 
dertaking a long journey on camels, Vasco became acquainted 
with some of the subjects of this mysterious prince. With the 
Moors came on board two Abyssinian slaves, who proved 
themselves to be Christians by immediately prostrating them- 
selves before an image of St. Gabriel. This caused a firm 
conviction in the fleet that, as they advanced towards India, 
the population would become more Christian. The sailors 
grew hopeful and excited on receiving this news. " We were 
so glad that we wept for joy, and prayed God that He would 
keep us in health, that we might at last feast our eyes with 
that which we had so ardently longed for." 

The Prince of Mozambique came many times on board and 
exchanged presents with Gama. He also granted him two 
pilots, whose pay was to be thirty ducats and two cloaks. But 
the condition which Gama insisted on, that from the time of 
the conclusion of the treaty one of the pilots should be con- 
stantly on board, caused a disturbance of the friendly relations. 
In fact, the Arabs, who were the chief people of the island, were 
impelled by hostile feelings towards the strangers, since they 
had discovered that they were not Turks, as they had at first 
supposed them to be, but infidels. Besides religious hatred, 
anxiety was aroused lest the monopoly of the Indian trade 
should pass out of the hands of the Arabs. On the other side, 
the Portuguese were unnecessarily suspicious, and often dis- 
covered some crafty treason in a perfectly innocent trans- 
action. 



Vasco da Gama. 65 

From fear of a surprise, the Portuguese fleet left the har- 
bour, and anchored off a httle island which they called St. 
George. The boats which were sent to fetch back one of the 
runaway pilots met with resistance, and a skirmish began 
which was only put an end to by the arrival of the caravel 
Bei'vio. Reserving the punishment of the Moors for a later 
period, Gama set sail with his squadron, which was well stocked 
with goats, poultry, and pigeons. But a dead calm detained 
liim for many days ; the stream which runs southward along 
the east coast of Africa carried him, against his will, back to 
Mozambique. While taking in water an affray began, and 
in consequence of a formal challenge, the Portuguese vessels 
placed themselves before the palisade fortification with which 
the Moors had tried to protect their little town, and opened 
a fire, which did much damage, and caused such a panic 
that during a pause in the firing the whole population passed 
over to the mainland. Gama pursued their canoes ; some 
were taken, and their contents given as plunder to the sailors, 
-and their crews taken prisoners. 

After this revenge, which was made use of as a precedent 
for an endless series of acts of violence, by means of which the 
Portuguese put an end to the Arab trade in the Indian Seas, 
a favourable wind permitted their departure on May 29th ; but 
they were still in fear of treason. The Mozambique pilot v/as 
suspiciously watched, and it was not without reason that the 
worst designs were attributed to him. The little group of the 
Ouerimba Isles long bore the name of Ilhas do Acoutado, 
Whipping Islands, from the punishment inflicted on him for 
declaring that these islands were a part of the mainland. 

The most important town on the east coast of Africa at that 
time was Kiloa or Ouiloa, 9° south latitude, which was the seat 
of a brisk trade. The pilots wished to bring the fleet into this 
place, which was ruled by a Prince who also possessed au- 
thority over many other towns ; but a strong south-west wind 

5 



66 A Ce7itury of Discovery. 

prevented this, and the Portuguese escaped what they after- 
wards discovered to have been a plot for their destruction.. 
With the help of two Moors, whom they captured in a boat on 
the open sea, they reached on April /th the harbour of Mom- 
baza, 4° south latitude. 

This town was on an island separated from the mainland 
by a canal, and being situated on hilly ground would have 
attracted the Portuguese, had it not been for the numerous 
merchant ships lying at anchor. On this account they thought 
it safest to remain outside the harbour, and to receive there 
the messengers of the King of Mombaza, who brought them 
presents of fruit and a sheep, and invited them to visit the 
place. Four Moors of rank remained as hostages for the 
envoys whom Gama sent into the town. These latter were 
struck by the regularity of the streets, by the stone houses, 
and by the ceremonious etiquette with which the King re- 
ceived them, and signified his acceptance of Gama's gift, some 
valuable coral. 

The large Christian population of which the pilots from 
Mozambique had spoken were reduced to two Abyssinian 
merchants, to whom the Portuguese paid visits. Then they 
returned to their ships with many specimens of the spices 
which were to be bought in the town. This decided Gama to 
enter the harbour; but the conduct of the Moors upon a slight 
accident which happened to the Admiral's ship again aroused 
his suspicion. The Moors who were on board were tortured 
with boiling oil until they confessed that the destruction of 
the Portuguese had been determined on as a revenge for the 
cruelties they had practised in Mozambique. The fleet there- 
fore remained in its position outside the harbour, but it was 
not safe there, and the night-watch often had to chase away 
men who were found swimming round the ships, trying to cut 
the ropes of the anchors. 

In consequence of the treachery both real and imaginary, 



Vasco da Gama. 67 

great discontent arose among the seamen, who were also sufifer- 
inp- much from sickness. All the Moors who were on board, 
even the closely-watched pilots from Mozambique, succeeded 
in throwing themselves into the water and swimming away, 
otherwise they would certainly have fallen victims to the 
sailors' ill-humour. " These dogs," says Alvaro Velhes, 
"planned these atrocities and many others, but the Lord 
would not let them succeed, because they did not believe 
in Him." Probably we may put down to their embittered 
fancy the unlikely story that the little fortress which pro- 
tected the harbour of Mombaza was full of Christian slaves 
in chains. 

On leaving the inhospitable Mombaza, Gama found himself 
in great embarrassment. He dared not venture on the voyage 
across the Indian Ocean without pilots, but, from the hostility 
of the Moors, he saw no way of providing himself with these 
indispensable guides. Fortune, however, favoured him, and 
compensated him for his earlier difficulties by unexpectedly 
fulfilling his wishes. 

A few miles from Mombaza he captured a Moorish boat 
containing seventeen men, besides a valuable cargo. From 
these he learnt that the little town of Melinda — which they 
reached the first evening — was governed by a Prince whose 
peace-loving disposition promised to the Portuguese the fulfil- 
ment of their wish. Gama determined to try and open com- 
munication with him, and therefore, while the fleet anchored 
far from the town, he sent on shore an old Moor^ — the most 
trustworthy of the prisoners — to negotiate with the Prince of 
Melinda. The same day — Easter Monday — a ship came out 
bringing a high dignitary with presents, a civility which Gama 
immediately reciprocated. The result of the intercourse thus 
auspiciously begun was that the day after the fleet entered the 
harbour. After a few days a personal interview between the 
Admiral and the Moorish Prince took place, each in his boat ; 

5—2 



68 A Century of Discovery. 

they met in the middle of the harbour, and held a long friendly 
conversation. 

The report of the cruelties of the Portuguese had reached 
Melinda, but, notwithstanding, the Prince showed himself un- 
prejudiced and friendly. He came near the ships to examine 
them, and was pleased at the salute which the Portuguese 
fired in his honour ; and when he returned to the town left 
his son and chief minister as hostages in the ships, while some 
of the Portuguese accompanied him to his palace. 

The next day a second interview on land was proposed, but 
Gama's prudence forbade his landing. He excused himself 
on the ground of an express prohibition of his King, and would 
not yield to the earnest request of the Prince, who wished to 
show the strangers to his lame father. So the meeting took 
place on the beach. Well-armed boats rowed along the shore, 
which was covered with an enormous crowd. The town — 
which contained many, white stone buildings, and was sur- 
rounded by a majestic forest of palms — presented a very plea- 
sant appearance. For the convenience of trade there was a 
high stone pier, from which steps led up to the palace of the 
Prince. Here the Portuguese stopped and awaited the Prince, 
who appeared borne in a palanquin, dressed in magnificent 
attire, and surrounded by his chief men. Again assurances of 
friendship and presents were exchanged, and Gama received 
the promise that an experienced Christian pilot — who knew 
the way to India — should be given him. But when two days 
had passed away, and yet the pilot did not appear, Gama 
seized a man of rank, and said he should keep him prisoner 
until the promise was redeemed. The pilot immediately ap- 
peared, a certain Malemo, surnamed Canaca, born at Gujerat, 
who was experienced in nautical matters, and at the same time 
trustworthy. 

The Portuguese were pleasantly surprised to find in the 
harbour of Melinda four ships manned by Indian Christian 



Vasco da Gama. 69 

members of the ancient Church said to have been founded 
by St. Thomas. With these brethren in the faith a hearty- 
intercourse sprang up. They came daily on board the Portu- 
guese ships and performed their devotions before the crucifix 
and the image of the Virgin. They were people of a brown 
complexion with long hair and beard, but their clothing was 
scanty. They lived very simply and did not eat meat. With 
Melinda, where a whole colony of Indians had settled, they 
carried on a brisk trade, bringing Indian wares into the land 
and exchanging them for gold, amber, tar, wax, and ivory. 
Their friendship for the Portuguese became so hearty that 
they gave them a great feast on their ships. 

This meeting gave the discoverers the idea that India was 
a Christian country, and at first they looked upon the Buddhists 
also as co-religionists. The mistrust which Gama felt towards 
the Moors was increased by these Indian Christians, but with 
regard to the Prince of Melinda it was never justified. On 
the contrary, he merited the fullest confidence^ not only by his 
conduct on this occasion, but also by his ready help and 
assistance on subsequent visits of Portuguese fleets. 

The anchor was weighed on the 24th of April, and once 
fairly on the open sea the ships struck boldly across the 
Indian Ocean in order thus to reach the coast of Malabar. A 
strong south-west wind swelled the sails, and it remained true 
to the Portuguese until they had reached their goal. It was 
the monsoon, a periodical wind which regulates the trade in 
the Indian Ocean. 

In the unusually short time of twenty-three days the Portu- 
guese ships traversed the 750 miles which separated them 
from India, and by the 17th of May they saw the coast of 
Malabar before them. That name is still given to the 220 
miles of coast which lie between Cape Comorin and the mouth 
of the river Nerbudda. Along the whole coast lies the chain 
of the Western Ghauts which forms a boundary to the Deccan. 



70 A Century of Discovery. 

Upon an average these mountains have a height of 3000 feet, 
but some points attain an altitude of 8000 feet. The sea 
washes their base, and only in the extreme south is there, 
between it and the mountains, a narrow swampy plain. A 
number of excellent harbours distinguishes this west coast 
from Coromandel, the flat eastern coast, and even in old times 
made it very important. Not only were the productions of 
the interior exported from these harbours — such as indigo, 
pepper, and cotton — but the Arab ships also found stored up 
here the productions of the countries still farther east — cinna- 
mon from Ceylon, nutmegs and cloves from the Sunda Islands. 
Thus the Portuguese had discovered the very source whence 
the Arabs drew the Indian wares in which th^y trafficked, and 
it was therefore evident that the Arabs would do all they could 
to prevent the Portuguese settling there. But it was doubtful 
how the Indians would act, and to gain them, and particularly 
their Princes, was of the utmost importance to Portugal. 

The whole of India was broken up at that time into in- 
numerable little kingdoms ; but whilst the north had had to 
suffer the attacks of foreign conquerors, by which the people 
and their religion had been very much affected, the whole 
south of the peninsula, and particularly the coasts, were in- 
habited by an unmixed Plindoo race who remained true to 
their religion. 

Almost every town on the west coast, where the Portuguese 
first landed, was the seat of a little Prince. Most of them, 
however, were subject to a mighty King who had his residence 
at Calicut, the most populous and thriving town of Malabar. 
To this King the Portuguese gave the title of Zamorin, which 
was their version either of Tamutiri Rajah, that is, lord of the 
hills and waves, or of Samoudri Rajah, that is, lord of the 
ocean. 

The Portuguese cast anchor in the open road before Cali- 
cut on the 20th of May, a time of year in which there were 



Vasco da Gama. ji 

aiot many ships in the harbour, it being much more frequented 
in the early autumn, as the autumn monsoon was useful for 
the return voyage to Arabia. 

Some boats came out to greet the newcomers, and on one 
■of them was a Moor from Tunis, so that the Portuguese were 
most agreeably surprised by receiving a welcome in their own 
language : " Good luck ! Good luck ! lots of rubies, lots of 
■emeralds. You may thank God that He has led you into 3. 
land where there is so much riches." This Moor, whose name 
was Moncaide, was of most important service to the Portuguese 
during their stay in India, and accompanied Gama to Portugal, 
where he was baptised into the Christian faith and finally 
settled down. 

From him the Admiral learnt that the Zamorin was not at 
that moment in Calicut, but fifteen miles up the country. It 
appeared necessary to salute him, and therefore two men were 
despatched to announce the arrival of the squadron to the 
Prince, and to beg an audience for their leader. Although 
the population of Calicut must have been considerable, the 
town made no great impression on the Europeans. With the 
exception of the stone houses which the Moors settled there 
had built, it only consisted of wooden houses with roofs of 
palm-leaves. The palace of the Zamorin, together with the 
houses of the principal men, was situated in a palm wood, half 
a mile from the town. The brown inhabitants were mistaken 
by the Portuguese for Christians simply because they were not 
Mohammedans ; some of them wore long hair and beards, and 
some had their heads shaven with the exception of the crown. 
They wore fine cotton clothes, but were naked from the waist 
upwards. Both men and women, but especially the women, 
were covered with ornaments — in their ears, on their arms, 
breasts, and even toes were decorations of gold ; and in many 
cases beautiful diamonds were to be seen. The people tdo 
appeared to be sensible, good-tempered, and sociable. 



72 A Century of Discovery. 

The Zamorin gave Gama's ambassadors a very friendly 
reception, offering many presents and assurances of goodwill. 
He promised to go himself at once to Calicut, and begged the 
Admiral, with the help of a pilot whom he sent to him, to 
leave the insecure road and cast anchor at a neighbouring 
place called Pangaray, the usual landing-place of foreign ships, 
and a spot which offered perfect security against storms. 
After a little consideration, this counsel was followed, but 
feeling a little mistrust, Gama would not allow the ships to 
approach as near to the land as the pilot wished. Gama now 
received a visit from one of the principal ofificers of the 
Zamorin, a man who appears to have been the commander of 
the town, and who had to watch over the intercourse of the 
people with foreign traders. He brought an invitation from 
the Zamorin, which he accepted for the 28th of May. The 
thirteen men who accompanied him put on their best clothes, 
and with waving banners and with a flourish of trumpets, the 
Admiral stepped upon the shore of India. The commander 
awaited him with a great train and an immense crowd of 
people. Gama took his seat in a litter which was borne by 
six men. Behind him came the Portuguese, among whom 
was Alvaro Vilhes, and the native train. After a meal of 
rice and excellent fish, which was offered to the foreigners in 
the house of one of the great men, Gama stepped into a boat 
prepared for the purpose and went up a piece of the river 
which flows into the sea by Calicut. Numbers of large ships 
were to be seen, but drawn up to the shore on account of the 
season. Then the procession resumed its course by land until 
a second halting-place was reached, this time a temple, which 
the Portuguese took for a Christian church. 

In the spacious building they saw some bronze pillars, 
several images of different gods, and seven little bells. They 
were still more strengthened in their mistake when some 
priests came to meet them and sprinkled them with water 



Vasco da Gama. 73 

and ashes ; and when they saw in a little side chapel, to which 
only the priests had entrance, an image of the beautiful 
Maha Madja, and on her breast her little son Buddha, they 
naturally took it for the Virgin and Child, fell down upon 
their knees, crossed themselves, and, with Gama at their head, 
piously offered their devotions. They took little account of 
the hideousness of the crowd of saints whose pictures covered 
the walls, in spite of the fact that some of them had their 
tongues an inch out of their mouths, and others had four or 
five arms. Only John de Saa, a man given to doubt, enter- 
tained any misgiving as to the Christianity of the saints. He 
made the Admiral laugh by exclaiming, in order to render 
himself perfectly secure in kneeling before the image, " If it is 
a devil, may my prayer be heard, not by him, but by the true 
God." 

As the train of Portuguese advanced the surrounding 
crowds increased, so that it was difficult to make way through 
them. But at length the vicinity of the palace was reached, 
and from it there issued a procession of people, who came with 
music to welcome the Portuguese and conduct them to the 
Zamorin. 

The latter awaited his guests in a splendid apartment, re- 
clining on a couch. He was dressed in a very full garment, 
which reached down to the knees and was made of the finest 
white cotton, embroidered with golden roses, and on his head- 
he had a cap adorned with gold and jewels. The heavy rings 
on his arms and legs sparkled and flashed with costly stones. 
Near him stood a large golden bowl filled with betel, which 
the inhabitants of India are passionately fond of chewing, in 
order to lessen by its spicy aroma the depressing effect of the 
heat. In his hand he held a golden cup, into which every 
now and then he spat out the chewed betel. All those who 
were present covered their mouths with their left hands, in order 
to prevent their breath reaching the Zamorin, a crime which 



74 A Cenhtry of Discovery. 

would have been punished as severely as if one had dared to 
sneeze or spit in the presence of the Prince. 

After the salutations had been made in the fashion of the 
country the Prince desired the strangers to take their places 
■and ordered fruits to be offered them. Then he retired with 
Gama into another room, where the latter gave him an ac- 
count of his home and of his King, after which Gama was 
dismissed with every assurance of goodwill. The Portuguese 
passed the night in a hall at some distance from the palace, 
which had been prepared for their reception. 

A second audience was arranged for the next day, but a 
most unpleasant circumstance compelled Gama to postpone 
it. He had noticed that no one dared approach the Zamorin 
with empty hands, and therefore had brought presents from 
the ship. These would have been very suitable for a Hotten- 
tot chief, but were not at all fitted for an Indian Prince who 
was accustomed to every luxury ; twelve pieces of cloth, 
twelve cloaks, six hats, four branches of coral, a small chest 
with six bottles, a chest of sugar, two casks of oil, and two of 
honey. The officers who were sent to inspect these presents 
declared that they were much too common, that they would 
not dare to offer them to the Zamorin, and asked whether 
Gama had not brought with him more valuable things — if pos- 
sible, gold. The Moors also, settled in the country, spoke 
just as contemptuously of the presents ; Gama therefore was 
very much disconcerted and determined not to offer them. 

When he appeared again before the King, a few days later, 
there was a significant lessening of cordiality. In his conver- 
sation the Zamorin made it evident that he expected a suitable 
present. " What did you want to discover here," he inquired, 
" stones or men .' If men, why did you bring nothing for 
them ?" At last he said that he had heard about a golden 
statue of the Virgin which Gama had on board ; this must be 
given him. With sailor-like honesty the Admiral replied 



Vasco da Gama. * 75 

that the statue was not of gold, and that even if it had 
been it could not have been given to the Prince. On the 
other hand, the letter from King Emanuel, which was presented 
and interpreted by one of the learned Moors, made a favour- 
able impression on the Zamorin, and he granted his permission 
to the Portuguese to unlade their wares and open a trade. 

Thereupon Gama wished to return immediately to the ships, 
but he and his men were detained on the shore. Many mis- 
understandings and the suspiciousness of the Portuguese made 
their case worse. At last the matter became really serious, 
and it was not until Paul da Gama, at his brother's order, had 
sent some wares on shore, that they were set free and allowed 
to return to the ships. 

"We thank God," says Alvaro Velhes, " that He has saved 
us from men who are as deaf to all reason as if they sprang 
from beasts. We knew well that if the Admiral were once 
on board, any one of us who might be yet on shore had nothing 
to fear." The expedition had occupied five days, and during 
all that time those who had remained with the ships had 
suffered the greatest anxiety. 

Meanwhile the Moors settled in Calicut had thoroughly 
awoke to a consciousness of the injury that would result to 
them and their trade if the Portuguese were allowed to come 
in, and therefore they did their best to increase the disagree- 
ment between the Zamorin and Gama. The discontent which 
the Zamorin and his officers felt at the stinginess of the Portu- 
guese, and the want of reverence which they had shown in 
their manner of approaching him, offered them a very good 
handle. They represented the Portuguese as pirates, and by 
bribery won over to their side the powerful Catwal or com- 
mander, whom the Portuguese soon discovered to be their 
most formidable enemy. 

At first, indeed, Gama obtained permission from the Zamorin 
to carry on trade with the natives, and the people of Call- 



76 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

cut showed themselves so friendly that the Portuguese were 
able to make purchases without any danger, and a kind of 
factory was established. But the Moors had the ear of the 
Zamorin, as the Portuguese were not long in finding out. 
Diego Dias, whom Gama despatched to the Zamorin as his 
ambassador, was indeed admitted, but the magnificent presents 
which he carried with him were again rejected as unworthy, 
and he himself ungraciously dismissed. 

By-and-by the Portuguese became suspicious that there 
was a design to detain them until the Moorish fleet should 
arrive and could assist in their overthrow. This suspicion was 
strengthened when the Zamorin laid an arrest upon all the 
goods still on shore, and placed a guard over those who 
had the charge of them. At the same time all intercourse 
was forbidden with the natives. Notwithstanding, the prisoners 
succeeded in sending news to Gama of their situation, where- 
upon he enticed nineteen Indians on board, and kept them as 
hostages for the Portuguese. At the same time he announced 
his intention of returning to Europe, and of coming back again 
shortly, fully prepared to take signal vengeance for the injus- 
tice with which he had been treated. This resolute way of 
proceeding made an impression. 

The Zamorin summoned Diego Dias before him, expressed 
himself as perfectly unaware of what had been done by his 
officers, ordered a strict investigation^ and restored freedom 
to the imprisoned Portuguese. At the same time he sent a 
letter to Gama by Dias for the King of Portugal. It ran 
thus : "Vasco da Gama, a nobleman of your house, has visited 
my land, which gave me much pleasure. In my land there is 
cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, and precious stones in abund- 
ance. And what I want from your land is gold, silver, coral, 
and scarlet." 

The remarkable shortness and complete want of polite 
phrases, which the people of the East usually employ so 



Vasco da Gama. jj 

lavishly, show that the Zamorin had little esteem for the King 
of Portugal and his ambassadors. And this was doubtless 
owing to the calumnies of the Arabs, and to the unconcili- 
atory conduct of the Portuguese, which was shown even in 
little things. For example, Gama insisted in placing on 
the land a pillar with the Portuguese coat-of-arms engraved 
upon it, in spite of the most violent opposition on the part of 
the Zamorin, who looked upon it as an attack upon his princely 
rights, and without considering that it would be knocked down 
immediately on the departure of the Portuguese. 

When the released Portuguese were conducted back to the 
ships, Gama only set free six of the Indians, and declared that 
he should retain the others until all the Portuguese wares were 
restored. But when next day the wares were brought in 
seven boats, mutual mistrust prevented a peaceful conclusion 
of the matter. From fear of treachery on the part of the 
foreigners, only three boats approached, while the remaining 
four kept at a distance. They made signs to the Portuguese 
to place the hostages in the boat which hung at the back of 
the Admiral's ship, from which they would fetch them, and at 
the same time unlade the wares. This proposal was con- 
sidered a cunning trick. Alvaro Velhes calls it a trick worthy 
of a fox, and Gama declared that now he would not receive 
the wares at all, but should take the hostages to Portugal. 

Naturally this was looked upon in Calicut as an open breach 
of the treaty, and as a horrible piece of kidnapping ; and it 
served to verify all the evil reports which the Moors had spread 
with regard to the Portuguese. The next morning seventy 
strongly-manned boats rowed out to compel the release of the 
prisoners, but a few cannon-shots sufficed to scatter them. 
On the same day, August the 9th, Gama set sail and left 
Calicut, after a stay of 104 days. 

During this period Gama had succeeded in almost filling 
the ships. But it is much to be lamented that the Portuguese 



78 A Century of Discovery. 

left India in a state of irritation, and full of the most 
hostile feelings. They believed themselves throughout to 
have been slighted and treated in an underhand way, and the 
just mistrust which they had at first felt with regard to the 
behaviour of the Moors at last became a mania. An im- 
partial investigation of the matter leads to the conclusion that 
the ignorance of the Portuguese with regard to the manners of 
Eastern lands was the chief cause of the discord. They came 
with empty hands where every one was accustomed to pre- 
sents and bribery ; they stood up stiffly and defiantly where 
people were accustomed to the greatest deference ; and they 
often showed a mistrust of the most solemn assurances, which 
did them the greatest injury. 

Hitherto the Portuguese had only held intercourse with 
the rude inhabitants of the coast of Africa, for whom their 
behaviour was exactly suitable ; they were quite unable 
to appreciate the peculiar character of Indian civilisation, 
and would not condescend to hold intercourse with the 
natives as equals. 

Their mistake in the matter of religion had contributed not 
a little to this estrangement. They had imagined that, to- 
gether with the coast of Africa, they had left behind the ter- 
ritory of Islam, and had calculated that the Indians, whose 
Buddha worship they had taken for Christianity, would render 
them active assistance against thehated Musselmans; and when 
they discovered the contrary, their vexation was much in- 
creased. 

Our informant says, "We were the more provoked that 
such a trick should have been played us by a Christian King, 
to whom our Admiral had made presents at his own expense, 
desiring nothing more than that he should listen to reason." 

Thus they left Calicut with unpleasant remembrances and 
desires of revenge, which they hoped it would please God to 
enable them to accomplish. Rivers of blood and indescribable 



Vasco da Gama. 79. 

suffering resulted from this quarrel — a quarrel which induced 
the Portuguese to depart from their original plan of peaceable 
commerce, and enter on the path of conquest. Gama, de- 
layed by repeated calms, continued coasting towards the north. 
On September 19th he cast anchor off a little island 15° 44' 
north latitude, named Anchediva. Here they set up their 
third pillar ; and as repairs were necessary for the ships, this 
island, on which were found both large forests and excellent 
water, was chosen for a long rest. With the inhabitants of the 
neighbouring coasts they had frequent communication, buying 
from them fruit and wares, particularly cinnamon, and finding 
them always friendly. 

But here also the mistrust of the Portuguese caused much 
trouble. When eight ships arrived, coming from the open sea, 
they concluded that they had been sent in pursuit from Calicut, 
and received them with a discharge of their guns, and drove 
them from the shore. The same treatment awaited seven 
other vessels, although their crews were Christians, and they 
had come adorned with flags to the sound of music, to greet 
their brethren in the faith. 

About this time the Portuguese made acquaintance with a 
singular individual. A man presented himself, of about forty 
years of age, fully clothed, wearing turban and sabre. He 
greeted the strangers, to their great astonishment, in pure 
Italian. He was, according to his own account, the descen- 
dant of a Jewish family from Posen ; he himself had been born 
and brought up in Alexandria, but had travelled for trade 
through a great part of Asia, and was now in the service of a 
powerful Prince, residing in the neighbouring town of Goa. 
At first the Portuguese received him in a very friendly manner^, 
but, becoming suspicious of him, they flogged him four or five 
times, and then he confessed that his Prince had sent him to 
find out the strength of the Portuguese, and to entice them on 
shore for the purpose of overpowering them. How much 



So A Century of Discovery. 

belief is due to the confession is a question. That the Prince 
of Goa wished to seize the Portuguese, in order by the help of 
such brave men to overcome the neighbouring princes — such 
was the Jew's story — does not seem very probable ; but the 
Portuguese were pleased at this acknowledgment of their 
valour, and congratulated themselves on the prudence by 
which they had escaped the danger. " They had, you see, 
said Alvares, " reckoned without their host." The destiny of 
the Jew was curious. He was forced to accompany Gama to 
Portugal. There he was converted to Christianity, and in 
baptism took the name of the man who had flogged him, 
Caspar da Gama.. His knowledge of languages made him a 
most important man. He accompanied the next Portuguese 
fleet to India as interpreter, and rendered signal service to his 
new countrymen. At last he was made, by King Emanuel, 
" Knight of the Palace/' under the name of Caspar da India, 
and died at Lisbon, looked up to by all, and the intimate friend 
of learned men. 

On the 6th of October they began their return voyage, 
hoping soon to arrive at home with the news of their great 
success. But the return voyage was a time of intense suffering 
to the sorely-tried sailors. From ignorance of the winds and 
currents of the Indian Ocean, and not having a pilot on board, 
they left the East Indian coast exactly at the most unfavourable 
time. A month later the north-east monsoon would have 
filled their sails and carried them safely and quickly to Africa, 
where the current would have borne them comfortably along 
the shore to the Cape. At present the voyage is made be- 
tween Bombay and the Cape by sailing ships in about thirty 
days. 

But the Portuguese were driven away from the region of the 
monsoon, which soon began to blow towards the south, and 
arrived in the region of calms, which — situated exactly north 
of the equator — divides the territories of the periodical winds 



Vasco da Gama. 8i 

from one another. Gama's fleet was here held fast as if by an 
invisible power, and had to endure the insupportable heat of 
a tropical summer. No wonder that dire disease soon made 
its appearance. 

" In the midst of all this misfortune the scurvy broke out. 
The flesh grew over the teeth, so that the sufferers could not 
eat ; the legs began to swell, and the swelling spread so com- 
pletely over the whole body that there was nothing to do but 
die. Thirty people now died of it, without counting the thirty 
whom it had previously killed. There were left at the most 
-only seven or eight men on each ship to do the necessary work, 
and even they were not well. Therefore I can declare certainly 
that if the voyage had lasted a fortnight longer, no one would 
ever have ventured to follow our example. Things had al- 
ready got to such a pass that we saw our end approaching, 
and could do nothing but make vows to the saints, and implore 
their aid in behalf of our ships. The captains held a council, 
and determined that if a contrary wind should arise, they 
would return to India, and wait until their men had recovered. 
But it pleased God in His mercy to send us a wind which in six 
days brought us to the coast, at which we were as glad as if 
we had reached Portugal, for we hoped now soon to be well 
again." 

The sufferings thus described lasted almost three months, 
for it was the 2nd of February, 1499, when the ships reached 
the coast of East Africa. Steering southward, they reached a 
town with stately buildings rising from the sea. When Gama 
heard that it was Magadoxo (2° i' south latitude), which he 
had been told was a chief seat of the Moors, he determined to 
give these crafty people a lesson, and sailing straight to the 
town, fired upon it. 

A very favourable wind carried the ships to the south, and 
after dispersing with their guns some Moorish boats which 
.attacked them near the town of Pate, the Portuguese found 

6 



82 A Centttry of Discoveiy. 

themselves on the 9th of February off the friendly Melinda, 
Here they were well received by the King and the inhabitants, 
and fresh provisions amply furnished. In order not to lose 
the favourable wind, Gama weighed anchor after a stay of only 
five days. As a proof of friendship, the Prince of Melinda 
allowed a pillar to be erected, and also despatched an am- 
bassador to the Portuguese King. Pursuing its course, the 
fleet sailed past Mombaza, Zanzibar, and Mozambique. 

The condition of one of the larger ships, the St. Raphael, 
rendered some delay necessary. Many times stranded, once 
damaged by lightning, the ship was no longer in a condition 
to pursue its course. As the number of the men had so- 
dwindled down that they were insufficient to man three ships,, 
they divided the cargo and crew of the St. Raphael between the 
two other ships, the Gabriel dind the Berrio, and surrendered 
the proud vessel to the flames. 

On the 3rd of March they reached Mossel Bay, near the 
Cape, where they were constrained by a violent west wind to 
stay longer than they had intended. On the 20th of March 
they succeeded in sailing round the Cape of Good Hope, and. 
found themselves in well-known waters. Impatience to see- 
again their native shore now grew strong in every breast. In 
the neighbourhood of the Cape Verde Islands the ships lost 
sight of each other, and whilst the Berrio, commanded by 
Nicolas Coelho, with Alvaro Velhes on board, continued its- 
way home, and ran into Lisbon on the loth of Jul}-, the 
Gah'iel anchored off Santiago, one of the Cape Verde 
Islands. 

Near the end of the voyage the Admiral was visited by a " 
bitter grief. His faithful brother Paul had long been ill, and 
whilst all the other invalids had quickly recovered after pass- 
ing the Cape of Good Hope, the strength of Paul da Gama 
visibly declined. The Admiral, who clung to him with tender 
affection, left the flagship to follow, and with his sick brother 



Vasco da Gama. 83 

went on board a swift caravel that he might arrive more 
quickly in healthy regions. But in the neighbourhood of the 
Azores the sick man's state became so alarming that the worst 
was dreaded. He was carried on shore at Terceira, and there 
he died in the arms of his afflicted brother, who for many 
weeks could not tear himself from the grave. Gama did 
not reach Lisbon till the 29th of August, 1499, his voyage 
having lasted two years and two months. Here, though still 
bowed down with grief, he had to take part in the magnificent 
festivities which King- Emanuel had prepared in honour of the 
great seaman and his glorious achievement. 

After spending nine days in prayer at Restello, whence the 
expedition had started, he entered Lisbon in procession amidst 
the shouts of a dense multitude, which had gathered from far 
and near to see the man who had first unfurled the Portuguese 
flag on the coasts of India. The important news had been 
communicated by the King immediately after the arrival of 
Coelho to all the towns and villages of Portugal, and a special 
messenger had been despatched to inform the court at Rome, 

On Gama and his companions — only fifty-five men returned 
out of one hundred and seventy — the King showered his 
favours. Vasco da Gama was made Admiral of the Indies, 
and at the same time raised to the highest rank among the 
nobility and allowed to adopt the title of Dom and to quarter 
the royal arms with his own. In addition to these honours, 
when the King some time later discovered the immense ad- 
vantage of direct intercourse with India, he made the Admiral 
Count of Vidigueira, and also bestowed upon him the annual 
income of 300,000 reals (about ^^5000), then a very great 
sum, which was to pass to his descendants. In an equally 
liberal manner did the King treat Nicolas Coelho and none 
of the much-tried seamen went unrewarded. 

His pious disposition also made the monarch anxious to 
show his gratitude to Heaven, and at Restello, on the spot from 

6—2 



84 A Century of Discovery. 

which Vasco da Gama had embarked and on which he had 
landed, he laid the foundation of a splendid cloister which 
he destined to be the last resting-place of the royal family, 
and named Bethlehem or Belem. This splendid building is 
still standing, having been spared by the great earthquake of 
Lisbon, to remind posterity of the enthusiasm to which it 
owed its origin. 

A touching proof of the respect in which he held the 

memory of his great uncle is afforded by the statue of Prince 

Henry the Navigator which he erected at the entrance of the 

cloister and by the weekly mass which he instituted for his 

. ifeoul. 

Many years of rest were granted to Vasco da Gama to 
restore his shattered health, whilst others were commissioned 
to carry on his work. It was not until the loth of February, 
1502, that he again left Lisbon at the head of a fleet of twenty 
ships, strongly manned, with the object of securing the influence 
of Portugal in India, and monopolising for her the whole of 
the eastern trade. 

No doubt Gama enjoyed appearing at the head of such an 
important force in seas where the weakness of his first fleet 
had prevented him from adopting decisive measures, and was 
well pleased to show himself in the full splendour of power to 
those who had treated him so contemptuously. He visited on his 
outward journey Sofala, rich in gold, and concluded a treaty 
with the Prince of Mozambique, who granted leave for the 
founding of a factory, and promised that Portuguese vessels 
sailing past should always be supplied with provisions. Then 
the fleet stopped before Ouiloa, where the Portuguese ships 
had been insulted, and after a violent cannonade the Prince 
was brought to declare himself a feudatory of the King of 
Portugal and to promise a yearly tribute. 

Gama's irreconcilable antipathy towards the Moors showed 
itself in still more fearful colours after his arrival in India. 



Vasco da Gama. 85 

He pursued all Moorish ships with fire and sword. One large 
ship, the Merii, which was carrying Mohammedan pilgrims to 
Mecca from all parts of Asia, was attacked by the Portuguese 
fleet on the 3rd of October and sunk after a whole day's 
resistance on the part of the pilgrims. About three hundred 
men and women fell victims to this act of vengeance. Twenty 
children were spared that they might be brought up as Chris- 
tians. 

Even after this deed of cruelty, which is a foul blot on 
Gama's name, the implacable man did not think he had suffi- 
ciently avenged himself on the Moors. Remembering the treat- 
ment which he had received in Calicut, he appeared before the 
town, and when the Zamorin did not immediately grant his 
demand to drive all the Moors out of the land, he opened a 
terrible fire on the unhappy town, and put to death by torture 
any Moor who fell into his hands. Then taking in a rich 
cargo at the ports of Cochin and Cananore, and leaving the 
full chastisement of the Zamorin for some future time, he set 
out on his return to Europe. Five ships were left behind as 
a defence to the factories erected on the Indian coast, and five 
more were to cruise at the entrance of the Red Sea in order 
to capture Arabian merchant-ships. 

On the 1st of September, 1503, Vasco da Gama entered the 
mouth of the Tagus after having encountered many storms on 
the voyage. With great ceremony he presented to the King 
the first tribute of the Prince of Ouiloa and the treaties 
which he had concluded with the Kings of Cochin and Cana- 
nore. He boasted of having completely frightened away the 
hostile Moors by his severity. 

The reception which he met with from King Emanuel was 
most honourable. It seems therefore very strange that the 
King never employed him again. Year after year powerful 
fleets sailed to India, and all the important men of Portugal 
took part in the enterprise. But Gama's name is connected 



86 A Cenhtry of Discovery. 

with none of the great deeds which were accomplished on the 
ocean discovered by him. 

It is not until after Emanuel's death that he reappears on 
the scene. John III. sent him to India on the 9th of April, 
1524, with fourteen ships and three thousand men as his vice- 
roy. On the voyage thither a great earthquake, which made 
the waves rise mountains high, gave occasion to the lofty words 
with which he sought to encourage his trembling companions : 
"Why should we fear? Do you not see that the ocean is 
trembling before us .''" 

He busied himself on his arrival in India in great plans 
which he was not destined to accomplish. For the sickness 
which attacked him on his arrival increased from day to day, 
and on the 24th of December, 1524, he died at Cochin. 

It was some time before his ashes found rest. Interred first 
in Cochin, then in Travancore, his body was in 1538, by com- 
mand of King John III., brought to Portugal and buried in 
a chapel not far from Vidigueira, from which place he took 
his title, and where two of his descendants also rest. The in- 
scription on the grave-stone runs thus : " Here lies the great 
Argonaut, Dom Vasco da Gama, first Count of Vidigueira, 
Admiral of the East Indies, the famous discoverer." The tomb 
was broken into in the year 1840, and has been restored at 
the expense of the State ; but the proposition which has so 
often been made to prepare a worthy resting-place for the 
ashes of the great sailor in the cloister of Belem has never 
been carried into execution. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PEDRO ALVAREZ CABRAL AND JUAN DE NOVA. 

The return of the first Portuguese ships, laden with the pro- 
ducts of India, had aroused in Portugal a storm of national 
enthusiasm, and presented to the imagination of all such an 
alluring picture of endless riches that they watched with im- 
patience for further steps on the part of the King. 

To this disposition of the people, which was indeed most agree- 
able to his wishes, Emanuel willingly responded, and hastened 
the preparation of a new fleet, which he intended to sail by 
the beginning of March ; for, according to the experience of 
Vasco da Gama with regard to the winds and currents, that 
appeared the most favourable time for a rapid voyage to 
India. If everything prospered, the adventurers would land 
on the Indian coast in autumn, could lade the ship there at 
their ease, and then, in the spring of the next year, begin 
their return. The correctness of this calculation, which ex- 
perience has verified, is a proof that Gama's observations were 
•carefully made and his conclusions trustworthy. 

To the command of the fleet, which consisted of thirteen 
sail, and carried 15 00 men on board, the King appointed 
Pedro Alvarez Cabral, of whose earlier life nothing more is 
known than that he belonged to one of the chief families of 
Portugal, and had distinguished himself as a well-informed 
and gallant man. It is possible that he was related to Gon- 
salvo Velhes Cabral, who had been sent out by Prince Plenry, 
Jn 1430^ to discover the Azores. 



S8 A CenttLry of Discovery. 

Under him commanded Bartholomew Dias and Nicolas- 
Coelho, who had accompanied Gama. The strength of the 
crews shows that they reckoned on hostilities with the Moors. 
Yet the instructions which Cabral received from King Emanuel 
directed him to strive for peaceful intercourse, and to conclude 
treaties of commerce. Besides, an attempt was to be made, 
by the wish of the pious King, to convert the heathen ; and 
for this purpose the fleet carried on board eight Franciscan 
monks and eight seculars, together with a vicar, who were in- 
tended to take the spiritual charge in the fort to be founded. 
Earthly weapons were not to be employed unless these peace- 
ful and pious efforts had no result. Even in that case, Cabral 
was limited by precise directions from the King, who was in- 
formed on all points and had foreseen all emergencies. 

On the 9th of March, 1500, the fleet set sail and steered for 
the open sea, with the good wishes of all. At the Cape Verde 
Islands a pause was made, that some of the ships which had 
become scattered by a storm might join company again. Ac- 
cording to the advice of Gama, they ought now to follow a 
southerly course, until the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope 
had been reached. This is still considered the shortest pas- 
sage through the two regions of the trade winds, pursued 
already by Vasco da Gama. 

Following closely these directions of Gama's, Cabral, after 
crossing the line, entered the equatorial current, which carried 
him imperceptibly towards the west. To the surprise of all, 
on April 24th, a coast was perceived, which, according to 
Cabral's reckoning, was 10 deg. south latitude, and quite 450 . 
miles distant from Guinea. At first he thought the land he 
had discovered was an island ; but when he had sailed along 
it for a whole day, he was convinced that it was the coast of 
a continent. Although his instructions forbade him to make 
any stay, the importance of the discovery compelled the Ad- 
miral to spend some days in examining the coast, along which 



Pedro Alvar£Z Cabral and y^Lan de Nova. 89 

he steered as far as 18 deg. south latitude. He found, at 
16 deg. 16 min. south latitude, an excellent harbour, which 
offered a safe refuge for more than 200 ships, and which there- 
fore received the name of Porto Seguro. This name still re- 
mains attached to a town situated on this harbour. On the 
shore, which was adorned with most luxuriant vegetation, 
there were seen fine copper-coloured people, who came up 
most confidingly to exchange bright-coloured parrots for the 
toys offered by the Portuguese. 

Cabral well discerned of what importance this coast would 
be as a station for ships on their way to India, and took pos- 
session of it for his native land by erecting a pillar. From 
this it received the name of Tierra da Santa Cruz, which, how- 
ever, afterwards gave place to that of Brazil. This name 
arose from the large quantity of the red dye-wood, which was 
compared to the colour of red-hot coals, and thence named 
brasil. 

A ship was despatched to bear the news of the discovery to 
Portugal, and the King, early in 1501, sent out three sail to 
investigate the important place. Yet several years passed 
away before the immigration of the Portuguese and the build- 
ing of forts began. Had not Columbus already, in 1492, dis- 
covered the New World, it would thus, eight years later, have 
been found through an accident. 

On the 2nd of May Cabral again set sail, intending to reach 
the Cape of Good Hope by crossing the Atlantic Ocean. But 
this passage was not made without painful experience. The 
superstitious minds of the sailors were much agitated by a 
large comet, which showed itself at night in the eastern sky. 
A high sea and stormy weather left no one in repose. Then,, 
on May 23rd, was seen, for the first time, a waterspout ; and,, 
while they were curiously watching it, a fearful storm sud- 
denly arose, and sank four ships, with all their crews. Among 
these unfortunate sailors was Bartholomew Diaz. No one 



■90 A Century of Discovejy. 

was in a condition to render assistance^ for the remaining ships 
were half full of water, and would probably have perished had 
not the wind torn away their sails. For twenty days and 
nights did this tempest rage, while the exhausted sailors 
struggled for their lives. And when the storm subsided, and 
the fleet, which had passed the Cape of Good Hope, was 
stopped by dangerous shallows and contrary winds, it found 
itself reduced to four much-damaged vessels. 

It was only by earnest remonstrances that Cabral persuaded 
the sailors to renounce their wish to return at once to Portugal, 
and to declare themselves ready to continue their voyage. 
They passed Sofala without touching, and proceeded to 
Mozambique, where they could without danger repair the 
ships and take in water — so strong still was the recollection 
of the chastisement inflicted on the Moors by Gama. Here 
too they obtained a pilot, who conducted them safely to 
Quiloa, which they reached on July 26th. 

The Island of Quiloa, lying 9 deg. south latitude, and sur- 
passing all the other East African islands in fruitfulness, had 
not been hitherto visited by the Portuguese. Yet, as it was 
the seat of a Prince who ruled a large portion of the coast 
and many much-frequented ports, it was worthy of special 
attention ; and Cabral had therefore received express direc- 
tions from King Emanuel, if possible, to conclude a treaty 
with the Prince of Quiloa. However, the interview with this 
powerful ruler, which took place on the water, remained with- 
out result; and, hearing a report that troops were assembling 
■on the mainland, Cabral considered himself justified in leaving . 
the place with his six ships — two which he had thought lost 
had rejoined him — and deferring the negotiation to a more 
favourable opportunity. 

At Melinda he was welcomed with much rejoicing, and 
many costly presents, and a letter written by King Emanuel's 
own hand, bound the Prince closely to the Portuguese interest. 



Pedro Alvarez Cabral and Jtian de Nova. gi 

He left this place on August 7th, and, being accompanied by- 
two Indian pilots, reached the coast of India in sixteen days. 

After a fortnight's stay at Anchediva, the fleet appeared on 
the 13th September off Calicut. At first all went well. The 
Zamorin condescended to meet the Admiral on the coast and 
promised to do all in his power to assist the Portuguese in 
their mercantile projects. A capacious building was immedi- 
ately granted them for a magazine, and Ayres Correa, the 
factor, soon filled it with wares. When the treacherous 
whisperings of the Moors began again to produce an effect 
on the Zamorin, Cabral brought about a second meeting, and 
by means of his firm and dignified behaviour induced the 
Prince to make a formal treaty, establishing the conditions of 
the spice trade, and granting the Portuguese equal advantages 
with the Moors. 

Still it was not possible to maintain this peaceful state of 
things unbroken. The obtrusive missionary zeal of the clergy 
may have increased the growing bitterness, and Correa's 
haughty behaviour gave great offence, so that the Portuguese 
trade progressed but slowly. The natives preferred to offer 
their wares to the Moors, who had long understood all the 
pecuharities of the Indian market, and who traded accordingly, 
rather than to the imperious Portuguese, who treated them in 
such an unconciliatory manner. 

Thus it came to pass that after three months hardly two 
ships were fully freighted in spite of great efforts. Instead of 
seeing their mistake and trying to rival the Moors by greater 
concessions to the Indian method of trading, the Portuguese 
complained of the favour shown to the latter and considered 
themselves injured. At last they began to make use of 
violence, took possession of the goods which were intended 
for the Moors, and tried to compel the native traders to be 
satisfied with the prices which they settled as being proper 
once for all. 



92 A Century of Discovery. 

While the Portuguese showed such arrogance it was easy 
for the Moors to stir up the people. A disturbance, caused 
by some tyrannical act on the part of Correa, became a com- 
plete uproar; an enraged mob stormed the Portuguese factory; 
Correa and his men were beaten, and fifty Portuguese were 
either killed or taken prisoners. Cabral was, on account of 
the small force which he had at his command, not in a 
condition to rescue his people, or at any rate demand full 
satisfaction. Still he avenged himself by setting fire to 
fifteen Moorish vessels which lay in the harbour, and by 
bombarding the town of Calicut for two days, thus killing 
some hundreds of perfectly innocent persons. But all peace- 
ful intercourse was of course for the present quite at an 
end. The calumnies of the Moors, who had represented 
the Portuguese as pirates, appeared of course more than 
ever credible to the Indians, and especially to the Indian 
Princes. 

In vain did Cabral await an embassy from the Zamorin 
offering an apology and begging for a resumption of trade. 
So he determined to depart. But he could not think of re- 
turning to Portugal until his ships were fully freighted. He 
considered it therefore most opportune when the Rajah of 
Cochin, a port situated about thirty miles to the south, sent 
him word that great stores of pepper were laid up in that 
town, which the Portuguese might have for a moderate price. 
Cochin was at that time a small tow^n dependent on the 
mighty Zamorin, but one which bore its dependence with 
impatience. It was particularly vexatious to the Rajah that 
Calicut had gradually raised itself to be the chief emporium 
of all Indian wares, while the neighbouring harbours were 
ruined. He had long viewed with envy the large tolls received 
by the mighty Zamorin, and it appeared to him worth while 
to make an attempt to draw into his territory the strangers 
who had done so much injury to the Moorish commerce, and 



Pedro Alvarez Cabral and yuan de Nova. 93 

who had quarrelled with the Zamorin, in order, by means of 
traffic with them, to raise Cochin at the the expense of 
Calicut. 

His scheme succeeded. He was obliged, indeed, in the 
great struggle which shortly took place, unreservedly to take 
the part of the Portuguese, and many times to see his whole 
power endangered ; but when the matter was finally decided 
Cochin took the place of the desolated Calicut, and became 
the most important port of Malabar, while the revenues of the 
•Rajah were proportionately increased. In a short time Cabral's 
^hips were laden with pepper. 

The example of the Rajah was followed. The Princes of 
Cananore and Coulam, two towns to the north of Calicut, and 
also under the supremacy of the Zamorin, begged the Portu- 
guese to visit them. But Cabral could not spare the time, 
and only promised the Prince of Cananore to fetch a certain 
quantity of ginger, which the latter agreed to have ready for 
him. 

Just as he was on the point of leaving Cochin there appeared 
a fleet of 70 sail, among which were 25 large ships, with 1500 
warriors on board, sent by the Zamorin to drive the Portuguese 
-out of the Indian Seas. But they did not dare to attack him, 
and contented themselves with watching the dreaded foreigners. 
Cabral was not in the least disturbed. He quietly steered out 
of the harbour of Cochin, sailed past Calicut, in full view of 
the town, in order to show his utter fearlessness, and took the 
ginger on board at Cananore. 

Here the Portuguese were offered more wares than their 
ships would hold, and were obliged to refuse much. The 
Rajah of Cananore thought that this was from want of money, 
and offered Cabral a loan ; but Cabral showed the royal mes- 
sengers the many chests full of gold which he still had on 
board, thanked the Rajah for his goodwill, and promised to 
report his friendliness to the King of Portugal. He then set 



94 ^ Century of Discovery. 

out with his richly-laden fleet on his return voyage, accom- 
panied by ambassadors from Cochin and Cananore. 

But the voyage was not without disaster. In the neighbour- 
hood of Melinda one of the largest ships ran upon a rock, and 
sank with all its cargo. Its guns afterwards were turned 
against the Portuguese by the King of Mombaza, who re- 
covered them by means of divers. When the Cape was once 
rounded all went well, and on the 31st of July, 1501, Cabrat 
cast anchor before Lisbon. But of the thirteen ships that had 
gone out, six lay at the bottom of the ocean, and only half of 
the men returned. On account of these disasters the Admiral 
met with a cold reception from the King. Although he could 
be charged with no fault, he was never again employed in any 
of the future undertakings, and the rest of the life of this- 
deserving and ill-used man is veiled in complete obscurity. 

The King v/as particularly vexed that, in spite of the liberal 
and costly fitting out of the fleet committed to him, Cabral 
had not been able to establish a firm footing in any part of 
India, and that he had not succeeded in erecting a fortress and 
in taking possession in the name of Portugal of some favour- 
able point on the coast. I^ had so completely reckoned upon 
this being done that, during Cabral's absence, he had despatched 
a little fleet of four ships and eighty men simply for the pur- 
poses of trade, in order at once to make use of the military 
advantage which he assumed Cabral to have gained. 

His intention was that henceforward a similar little merchant 
fleet should sail every year in March, the most favourable 
time. But after the return of Cabral, King Emanuel was filled 
with anxiety for the little squadron, which was not fitted either 
for defence or attack. 

He had appointed commander of this squadron Juan de- 
Nova, a noble Galician, who had distinguished himself in dif- 
ferent expeditions in the Portuguese service as a skilful and 
brave seaman. On this occasion he justified the confidence of 



Pedro Alvarez Cabral and yuan de Nova. 95 

the King-, and showed himself well suited for his very difficult 
position. Under him Vinetti, a Florentine, commanded a 
caravel, which his countryman, the rich merchant, Bartholomew 
Marchioni, had fitted out, making use of the permission of the 
King, who for a certain share in the profit had thrown open 
the trade to India. 

This permission is another proof of the firm conviction on 
the part of the King that Cabral's imposing squadron must 
certainly have removed all the hindrances to trade which the 
hostility of the Moors and the reluctance of the Zamorin 
could have caused. 

On his outward voyage Nova discovered in the Atlantic 
Ocean (7° 56' south latitude) a rocky island, which from the 
day on which it was first seen he called Conception. This 
was afterwards changed into Ascension, and is now a station 
of the English ships employed in the suppression of the slave 
trade. It has a small population. The squadron sped pros- 
perously on, though delayed for a time in the Mozambique 
Channel by contrary winds. Going round Calicut, it made 
directly for Cochin, but before it could run into the harbour 
it had to sustain a sharp conflict with an attacking fleet of 
the Zamorin, which, however, it succeeded in driving back. 

Here and in Cananore the ships were quickly laded with 
pepper, ginger, and cinnamon, the Princes of both towns show- 
ing themselves most friendly, and then Nova, with much haste, 
left the coast, and cruised about in the open sea until the 
north-east monsoon arose and quickly bore the ships towards 
the west. 

Nova's return voyage was rendered remarkable by a dis- 
covery. On the 22nd of May, 1502 (15° 55' south latitude, 
and 5° 44' west longitude), an island arose before them, which, 
in honour of the saint whose day it happened to be, received the 
name of St. Helena. On closer inspection it was discovered that 
the island possessed anexcellentharbour,and abundance of good 



.96 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

water, and therefore was well suited for a harbour of refuge, 
and for a watering station. This small island has now a popu- 
lation of 7000 people. Since 1688 it has been in the posses- 
sion of the British, and is constantly visited by ships going to 
.and from the East Indies, which stop here to take in water 
and provisions. But the great interest of the island consists in 
its having been the place to which the fallen Emperor Napo- 
leon I. was banished, and where he died. It was in the farm- 
liouse, Longwood, in the most dreary part of the island, that 
he fretted away the last six years of his life. Under the 
liistoric willow-tree, which stands near the farmhouse, his 
.ashes rested until 1841, when Louis Philippe and his Minister 
Thiers caused them to be disinterred, and brought to France, 
where they found a more fitting tomb in the Hotel des 
Invalides. 

On the nth of September, 1502, Nova ran into the harbour 
at Lisbon, and met with a most gracious reception from the 
King, and a rich reward, which was due no doubt to the rich 
cargoes of the ships, and to his circumspect conduct. He had 
not suffered the least loss, either in ships or men. 

King Emanuel now added to the titles which he had hither- 
to borne — King of Portugal and of the Algarves, and Lord 
of Guinea — the new one of Lord of the navigation, conquest, 
and trade of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, by which he 
showed what was the goal he aimed at, rather than what he 
.really possessed. 

It was important first of all to get the trade of those lands 
entirely into the hands of the Portuguese. Since the result 
■of the three expeditions which had already been made to Iiidia 
had shown clearly the superiority of the Moorish merchants 
and the preference of the natives for them, it was now deter- 
mined to have recourse to force and to render their Moorish 
rivals afraid of vying with the Portuguese, and thus to gain a 
free field. 



Pedro Alvarez Cabral and Jtmn de Nova. 97 

To carry out this policy of terror, no one seemed more suit- 
able than Vasco da Gama, in whose mind still rankled the 
bitterest feelings towards the Moors, to whose artifices he had 
fallen a victim. The command, therefore, of the fleet was 
committed to him, and he received full powers to use force 
towards the Moors and any Indian Prince who might oppose 
him. In what a bloody manner he made use of this power 
has already been related. 



CHAPTER VII. 

FRANCISCO DE ALMEIDA. 

When Vasco da Gama, in 1503, returned from his second 
voyage to India, he left at two places in Malabar — Cochin 
and Cananore — a small number of Portuguese for the protec- 
tion of the factories established there — in the first harbour 
thirty, and in the latter twenty men — and a fleet which, be- 
sides serving as a protection to the men, was intended to 
watch the Moorish merchant-ships. 

But its commander, Vincente Sodre, allowed himself, in 
spite of all warnings, to be persuaded to make an attack upon 
the Moorish ships in the Red Sea, at the most unfavourable 
time of year, and paid for his folly by his own death and the 
destruction of almost the whole fleet before it reached the 
Red Sea. 

This appeared to the Zamorin a favourable opportunity to 
strike a blow at the Portuguese in the factories, and to teach 
the Indian Princes who protected them that it was vain to 
make use of the arms of foreigners in order to escape from the 
rule of their rightful superior. His army was too powerful 
for them to oppose it in the open field, and therefore the 
Rajah of Cochin evacuated the town, and withdrew to the 
Island of Waiping, taking the Portuguese with him. Even 
here he was hard pressed, until the arrival of a Portuguese 
fleet put an end to his difficulty, and made the Zamorin's army 
retreat. 

This was a squadron which King Emanuel had prepared 



Francisco de Almeida. 99 

before the return of Gama in 1503. It was principally com- 
posed of merchant-ships, which were to return as soon as pos- 
sible to Portugal with rich cargoes. At the head of this 
squadron were two brothers, Francisco and Alfonso de Albu- 
querque ; and a small part of the fleet, under Antonio de 
Saldanha, was directed to cruise about near the Red Sea. 
With the help of 600 Portuguese, the Rajah of Cochin soon 
drove the Zamorin out of his territory ; and, out of gratitude 
to his protectors, he consented to the building of a fort on his 
territory. Immediately — September 27th, 1503 — -the work 
was begun, and, close by the town of Cochin, arose a strong 
building, which would at least serve as a defence in the case 
of hostile attack. It was called Santiago, and became the 
foundation of the Portuguese power in India. It had a 
gamson of 150, commanded by the brave Duarte Pacheco 
Pereira. 

The factories in Cananore and Coulam were then visited, and 
there the ships were laded ; for in Cochin it had been im- 
possible to collect wares, owing to the war that had been 
raging. Then the two brothers returned home. But only 
Alfonso arrived safely in Portugal. Francisco, who left Cochin 
on the 31st of January, 1504, perished, with all his ships, no 
one knows how or where. 

The fear of the Rajah of Cochin, that the Zamorin would 
renew his attacks as soon as the Portuguese fleet had de- 
parted, was only too well founded. The Zamorin had indeed, 
without the knowledge of the Arabian merchants, negotiated 
with the brothers Albuquerque, and had even condescended 
to give compensation for the destruction of the factory ; but 
they soon began to suspect him, and, without waiting for 
any explanation, attempted to seize the ships of Calicut. 
Such treatment convinced him that friendly intercourse with 
the Portuguese would only be possible if he yielded to all 
their demands unconditionally, and surrendered all his rights 

7—2 



lOO A Century of Discovery. 

as a prince. He preferred to try the fortune of war, hoping- 
that a severe defeat might render a settlement in India odious 
to the Portuguese, while it would at the same time inspire with 
new courage those whom the imperious conduct of the strangers 
had dismayed, and deter the subject princes from following 
the dangerous example of revolt. 

With a mighty host, consisting of 70,000 men, 160 ships, 
200 musketeers, and 300 pieces of ordnance, he entered the 
territory of Cochin. It required the courage of a Pacheco 
Pereira even to think of opposition to such a host. But this 
extraordinary man, the first example of that incredible heroism 
which was afterwards so frequently displayed, and which sur- 
rounded the Portuguese arms with the glamour of magic, 
marched straight to meet the enemy's host, and did not re- 
turn to the island town of Cochin until he had first inflicted 
severe losses upon it. The siege lasted from March until the 
end of July, with varying fortune, the besieged suffering much, 
but at the same time doing many glorious deeds. The ap- 
proaches to the island had every day to be defended by bloody 
contests with the enemy, whose valour was animated by the 
personal presence of the Zamorin. Against the harbour of 
Cochin fire-ships were let loose, which with difficulty were 
diverted ; and eight floating-towers, supported by the whole 
fleet of the enemy, attempted to make a landing, but were 
driven back by the Portuguese guns. 

The exhausted garrison, which was aided by only a few 
thousand native soldiers in the service of the Rajah, found a 
more powerful ally in a pestilence which broke out in the 
enemy's camp, and carried off so many victimsthat the Zamorin 
broke up the siege, after having lost 18,000 men. This melan- 
choly result so decreased his importance that some of the 
subject princes immediately fell away from him, and made 
offers to the Portuguese. Pacheco's fame was great in all 
India ; and when he returned to Portugal the King rewarded 



Francisco de Almeida. loi 

iiim with a significant coat of arms and the governorship of 
the African Gold Coast ; but, becoming the victim of some 
atrocious calumnies, the gallant leader eventually died in 
chains, and his family fell into the deepest poverty. 

In September, 1504, there appeared in the harbour of the 
relieved city of Cochin a Portuguese fleet of thirteen well- 
armed ships, having on board 1200 men, among whom were 
many noblemen eager to gain fame and wealth in India. The 
commander of this fleet, which Emanuel had fitted out be- 
cause Gama represented that war was absolutely necessary, 
was Lopo Soares. He bombarded Calicut for two days, burnt 
the Zamorin's town, Kranganor, with all the ships that lay in 
the harbour ; and at last, at the end of December, made a bold 
attack on the well-manned Moorish merchant fleet which, 
composed of seventeen ships, lay in the harbour of Ponani, 
waiting for cargo, feeling perfectly secure under the shelter of 
the batteries which the Zamorin had erected on the shore. 
The audacious attack was perfectly successful, and ended in 
the utter destruction of the Moorish fleet. 

It was the severest punishment which could have been in- 
flicted upon the Zamorin, for such a terrible loss frightened 
the Moors away from his ports, and consequently made a 
considerable difference in his revenue. At the same time 
Soares showed the greatest possible honour to the faithful 
Rajah of Cochin, and when he sailed away with his well- 
Jaden fleet, left behind him four ships and a strong garrison 
as a protection. 

King Emanuel saw with much rejoicing the growing in- 
iluence of his people on those distant shores, and the con- 
stantly increasing wealth which accrued to Portugal. 

In the course of a few years Lisbon had become the great 
■spice market of Europe, and could supply nearly the whole 
■ continent, since from twelve to fifteen well-laden ships came 
dnto her harbour every year. Portugal was able to lower the 



I02 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

prices, and thus monopolised the whole trade, which had once 
been the wealth of Venice. Of course the use of spice in- 
creased as the price diminished, and thus larger sums were 
spent in Indian wares. The advantage which accrued to 
Portugal from this impetus to trade was something quite 
remarkable. 

Besides the gigantic sums which flowed into the royal 
coffers and gave the King means to prepare new fleets, a number 
of large merchant houses sprang up, and a fresh life came 
into trade. Moreover the varied undertakings and the pre- 
sence of many foreigners in the land were of great advantage 
both to the citizens and peasants, and exercised a beneficial 
influence even in the most distant corners of the land. 

The more evident all this general prosperity became, the 
more zealous did the King grow to render it permanent. It 
did not escape him that in the long run it would not be enough 
to send large fleets to India just to procure cargo and then 
return. During their absence the impressions made upon the 
enemies of Portugal by their brilliant deeds of arms were 
quickly effaced, so that as a rule each fleet had to repeat the 
work done by the preceding one. 

This unsatisfactory state of things was only to be prevented 
by maintaining constantly a considerable force in India. 
Emanuel determined to do this. Indeed, to give more uni- 
formity to the conduct of Indian affairs and more permanence 
to the relations with the Indian princes, he determined that a 
representative of the King should take up his residence in 
India with the title of viceroy. The term of office was fixed 
at three years ; for which period also all persons engaged in 
the service, whether holding civil or military appointments, 
were to be pledged. 

The first man whom Emanuel invested with the dignity of 
viceroy was Francisco de Almeida, Count of Abrantes, one of 
those remarkable men who, without any thought of self or 



Francisco de Almeida. 103 

their own advantage, know no other glory than that of their 
country, and seek no other advantage than that of the people 
to whom they belong. He sprang from one of the most 
illustrious families of Portugal, and had, since he first dis- 
tinguished himself in the siege of Granada, added glory to 
his name by many feats of arms both at sea and against the 
Moors in North Africa. 

He cannot have been a young man when he was appointed 
by the King to the governorship in India, for he took with him 
a son old enough to bear arms, who was to earn his first laurels 
under his father's eyes. His bearing in his new office was dig- 
nified without being haughty. He himself submitted to the 
greatest deprivations and fatigues in the interests of his office, 
and he demanded from those under him, when necessary, the 
utmost exertion of their powers. But whilst he displayed 
an almost incredible unselfishness, and continually gave up 
spoil which was justly his, he was so generous in praising and 
rewarding those who faithfully fulfilled their duty or who 
performed great deeds that he sometimes drew down upon 
himself the displeasure of the King. This is proved by one 
sentence of the great man's which has come down to us, " I 
shall return to Portugal," he said, when he laid down his office, 
" and place before the King my master the instructions which 
he gave me, and if he finds that I have exceeded my com- 
mands in distributing his wealth, here is my own ; and if that 
is not sufficient to repair the damage, I shall tell him that 
another time he must not put the sword into the hand of a 
fool." 

This liberality won for him the hearts of his subordinates, 
while his heroic greatness, his blameless life, and his strict 
sense of justice gained him the admiration of India. 

He was next employed by the King in East Africa. 
Emanuel wished that the Portuguese should establish a firm 
footing on this coast, which was so important when considered 



I04 A Centtcry of Discovery. 

in connection with the Indian trade. He had also cast an 
eye upon the province of Sofala, rich in gold but yet scarcely 
touched. Almeida, according to the King's orders, sailed 
with part of his fleet to Ouiloa, the most powerful of the East 
African mercantile cities. Disputes, which arose between 
him and the Prince of Quiloa, ended in an assault on the town, 
which the Portuguese took and plundered. With the new 
Prince, whom Almeida established in place of the dethroned 
one, he concluded a highly-advantageous treaty, which was 
wrung from him no doubt in great measure by fear of the 
Portuguese arms. Almeida was allowed to build the fort 
Santiago on the harbour of Ouiloa, and to furnish it with a 
sufficient garrison. Much the same occurred at Mombas, 
only that this town was able to make a greater resistance, 
by means of the Portuguese guns which had been recovered 
by means of divers from the bottom of the sea, as has been 
already related, and therefore its defenders thus met with 
more severe treatment after the capture. In both places the 
spoil was great. 

Much more peaceful and friendly was Almeida's entrance 
into Melinda. The native Prince was loaded with presents and 
reaped the fruits of his wise and pacific behaviour in the in- 
creased prosperity of his harbour — a prosperity due doubtless 
to the destruction of the more powerful neighbouring cities. 

The Viceroy did not go himself to Sofala, the exploration 
of that land of gold and the establishing of a settlement there 
being committed to a special fleet of six ships which sailed 
away from Portugal under the command of Pedro de Anhaya 
shortly after Almeida. Permission was obtained for the 
Portuguese to land from the Moorish Prince who ruled in 
Sofala, and the building of a fort began. It was made of 
wood, from the difficulty of procuring stone. 

But, in consequence of the murderous climate, all the Portu- 
guese were soon laid lowwith fever, and the Moorish Prince had 



Francisco de Almeida. 105 

waited just for this to make more sure, as he thought, of their 
destruction. Stirred up by him, the surrounding Kaffir tribes 
stormed the fort, but were driven back by one discharge of the 
guns. ThePortugueserevenged themselves for this treachery by 
murdering the Moorish Prince, and setting up in his place one of 
his sons, who acknowledged himself a vassal of King Emanuel. 

Portugal has maintained its dominion on that unhealthy 
coast to this day, and countless numbers have fallen victims 
to the fatal fever, in the pursuit of trade. The gold district 
itself is fifty miles inland from Sofala, and forms a table-land, 
which has frequently been visited of late by European travel- 
lers, and may perhaps yet be the scene of a future immigration 
of gold-diggers. 

The fact that these mines have undoubtedly been worked 
from very early times has given rise to the opinion that this 
was the Ophir of the Bible ; but others, as appears, with more 
justice, have placed that land of gold in India, at the mouth of 
the Indus. 

Whilst Pedro de Anhaya was superintending the settlement 
of the Portuguese in Sofala, Francisco de Almeida arrived at 
Malabar. According to his instructions, he began first to 
build a fort on the island of Anchediva, which King Emanuel 
considered specially fitted to be the starting-point for future 
undertakings. But when, after some time, it appeared that 
the neighbourhood of the great commercial city of Goa, which 
was under the rule of the Prince of Bujapoor, would be too dan- 
gerous for the new fortress, it was given up ; but the Portuguese 
remained on good terms with the chief of the Indian pirates, 
who had been accustomed to use the island as a haunt. The 
Viceroy then visited the factories in Cananore and Cochin 
and found everything in a prosperous state. He sought, by 
many marks of honour, to bind the Prince of Cochin, the 
oldest and most faithful ally of Portugal, still closer to her 
interests; and then, when he had freighted the merchant-ships 



io6 A Century of Discovery. 

and despatched them to Portugal, he set himself to execute 
the task which had been appointed him. 

His plan was to gain for Portugal the uncontrolled dominion 
of the Indian Seas, but entirely to abstain from all conquest 
on the mainland, which might involve her in incalculable per- 
plexity. He trusted for the necessary support on the coast 
partly to certain factories, but more to the adherence of the 
Indian princes who should be brought to serve the cause of 
Portugal, either by fear or by the hope of a rich reward. 

Whilst with this view he distinguished in every possible 
way the Rajah of Cochin, he punished severely the town of 
Coulam, the inhabitants of which, stirred up by the Moors, had 
burnt down the factory with all the goods stored up in it, and 
had killed all the Portuguese. A similar chastisement had 
shortly before been the lot of Onor, a town in the immediate 
neighbourhood of Anchediva. From Cananore the Viceroy 
superintended the freighting of the ships so successfully that 
they were ready in a few months to return to Portugal. 

Three of these ships, which sailed from Cochin on the 26th 
of November, 1505, were driven out of their usual course by a 
violent north wind, and constrained to sail more directly south 
for the Cape of Good Hope. This mishap caused the dis- 
covery of Madagascar, or, as the Portuguese called it, San 
Lourengo. They sailed round its south point, however, with- 
out stopping to explore it. On this new course, which greatly 
shortened the journey, they have been followed by most ships 
returning from India. 

The next year's fleet did not arrive as soon as it was ex^ 
pected. The delay was caused by the fact that its commander, 
Tristam da Cunha, whose name is still borne by a group of 
islands which he discovered (12° 2' west longitude, and 37° 6' 
south latitude), had, at the command of the King, assisted 
Alfonso de Albuquerque to establish the influence of Portugal 
on the east coast of Africa, even north of Melinda. Some 



.Francisco de Almeida. 107 

coast towns on the peninsula Somali were razed to the ground, 
Cape Guardafui was doubled, and a fort built on the island of 
Socotra. 

This mountainous but most unhealthy island, which lies 
opposite Cape Guardafui, was designed by Emanuel to serve 
as a station for the Portuguese fleet, and to enable it com- 
pletely to close the Red Sea against all Moorish vessels. 
After a few years, however, it was found that the island could 
not be held, and it was given up. The two commanders em- 
ployed a full year in carrying out this commission of their 
King. 

Then while Tristam da Cunha pursued his way to India, 
Albuquerque sailed to Ormuz. This town lies 56° 29' east 
longitude, and 27° 5' north latitude, and commands the straits 
between the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf Although 
the island on which it is situated is small and perfectly 
barren — for the salt soil will produce nothing, and all the 
necessaries of life, even water, have to be brought from the 
mainland — yet on account of its position it was then thickly 
peopled, and Ormuz itself, next to Malacca and Aden, was 
considered the most important town of Asia. In its markets 
were to be found the wares of India, together with the produce 
of Persia, Armenia, Tartary, and other northern countries. 

"The world," says a native proverb, "is a ring, and 
Ormuz is the gem which it contains." If the title. Lord of the 
Trade of the Indies and Ethiopia, which Emanuel had adopted, 
was to be anything more than a title, it was necessary that it 
should be asserted in the capital of that trade. 

So Albuquerque, September, 1507, with seven ships, carrying 
460 men, appeared before the splendid city, which had a 
garrison of 30,000 men, among whom were 4000 Persian archers, 
and in whose harbours lay 400 ships. With such a dispro- 
portionate force, it was yet just like the audacity of Albu- 
querque, and the recklessness of the Portuguese, who looked 



Jo8 A Century of Discovery, 

upon all the East as their rightful prey, to call upon the 
King of Ormuz to do homage, and to pay a yearly tribute. 

The Vizier Atar, who held the reins of government for the 
infant Prince over the town and kingdom, which extended 
along the coasts of Arabia and Persia, did not venture at once 
to try the fortune of arms, but entered upon negotiations with 
these terrible strangers, in order to keep them amused. How- 
ever, the very next morning the Portuguese fell upon the mer- 
chant fleet which lay in the harbour, sank a great many ships, 
and burnt the rest. The fire was so fearful that it placed the 
town in danger. The Vizier, frightened by the spectacle, 
agreed to a treaty by which he recognised the King of Portu- 
gal as the feudal lord of Ormuz. He also agreed to pay a 
tribute of 15,000 ducats, and to allow a fort to be erected for 
the security of the Portuguese influence. 

But this treaty, extracted by terror, was never carried out. 
After a few days new disputes arose, and the Vizier, who felt 
himself encouraged by the large army which stood at his com- 
mand, and the hatred of the Portuguese entertained by the 
people at large, put continual hindrances in the way of the 
-building of the fortress, so that, giving up the vain attempt, 
they withdrew to Socotra. 

However, convinced of the great importance of Ormuz, he 
appeared again the next year, and spent the whole autumn in 
spreading terror and dismay in the city. But, as on the 
first occasion, he had been able to accomplish nothing, so now 
this attempt, in which he had only three ships and about 300 
men, was perfectly fruitless, and he was at last obliged to make 
. up. his mind to leave Ormuz, fully intending to attempt the 

I execution of his plan at some future time, and when circum- 

stances should be more favourable. 

Meantime Tristam da Cunha had reached Malabar with 
the merchant fleet, and had taken on board the stores which 
Almeida had prepared. This, thought the Viceroy, was the 



Francisco de Almeida. 109 

time to strike a blow against the Zamorin, whose fleet had 
many times shown itself on the high seas, but had continually- 
been driven back by the Portuguese, under the leadership of 
a brave youth, Lourengo de Almeida. He, however, had not 
been able to hinder a number of merchant-ships from entering 
the harbours of the Zamorin, where they had procured rich 
cargoes. Just then — October, 1507 — there lay a large number 
of them in the harbour of Ponani, a few miles south of Calicut, 
where they appeared to be protected against every surprise by 
the Zamorin's fleet and the fortifications, which were manned 
by 4000 soldiers. 

But even there the Portuguese sought them under the leader- 
ship of Almeida and of Tristam da Cunha. The two young 
sons of the general commanded the vanguard of the fleet ; 
they forced a landing under the fire of the enemy's batteries, 
and defeated the natives in a most murderous fight, in which 
indeed almost all of them were slain. Threatened on shore, 
the Moors now left their ships in the lurch and saved them- 
selves. The conquerors only took the guns from the ships, 
setting fire to everything else, even to the town with its rich 
stores. 

The effect produced by this deed of arms was very great, 
and increased in the whole of India the dread felt of the 
Portuguese. The Moorish ships found it wise to avoid the 
dangerous harbours of the Zamorin, and preferred to take 
the long voyage to Ceylon and the Trade Isles, in order to 
procure the costly productions from the lands where they 
Avere indigenous. But even this was soon put a stop to by 
the Portuguese. Not content with capturing and destroying 
numbers of the ships on their return voyage, the Portuguese 
soon supplanted the Moors even in their trade with these 
distant lands. 

Thus a strongly-fortified factory was established by Lourengo 
de Almeida on the Maldives, not only for the sake of the ex- 
cellent coir — rope made from cocoa-nut fibres — which these 



no A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

islands produced, but also to lay wait here for the Moorish 
merchant-ships. It was the same youthful hero who first dis- 
played the Portuguese flag in Ceylon. He landed in Galle, 
in the south of the island, and entered into friendly intercourse 
with the ruler of Ceylon. 

The dominion of Portugal over the Indian Seas appeared 
more and more firmly established. The great merchant fleets, 
which had in earlier times carried the productions of India 
to Arabia, were either destroyed or no longer ventured into 
the Indian Seas, where they found themselves treated with 
the most relentless severity, just as if they had made an inroad 
into an enemy's land. With an iron foot the Portuguese 
trampled upon their flourishing trade, in order upon its ruins 
•to establish their own mercantile power. This change was 
accompanied by great revolutions. Mighty princes lost their 
influence, insignificant harbours became in a night important 
•places of trade ; whilst at the places which had hitherto been 
.centres of commerce trade came to a standstill, and poverty 
^speedily ensued. 

T|hus it v/as at Alexandria, the old emporium for the 
;]y[e4iterranean, which quickly lost its importance. The de- 
(Crease in the customs was highly disagreeable to the Mame- 
;luke Sultan of Egypt, and moved him to an attempt to drive 
xthe Portuguese out of India, in order to assist the Moors, 
^whose trade had been of such service to Egypt. Venice, 
which felt its very life imperilled by the commercial prosperity 
of Portugal, did not fail to give both encouragement and 
,active support. The Sultan, Kansu Ghwari, therefore caused 
a large fleet to be fitted out in the Red Sea, which put to sea, 
in 1507, under the command of the Emir Hossein, a native of 
Kurdistan. It was calculated that allies would be found in 
India ; above all, that the Zamorin of Calicut and the Mussul- 
man King of Cambaya, whose revenues had been seriously 
injured by the progress of the Portuguese, would certainly 
assist him. 



Francisco de Almeida. 1 1 1 

The near approach of this hostile fleet was reported to the 
Viceroy ; but he did not consider the report worthy of credit. 
So the Emir Hossein succeeded, in January, 1508, in surprising 
the young Almeida, as the latter, with a fleet of twelve men-of- 
war, was conducting the Malabar ships of the Kings of Cochin 
and Cananore to Choul, a little harbour north of Goa. In spite 
of the overwhelming force of the enemy, Louren^o attacked the 
Egyptian fleet, but without doing it much damage ; and when 
the fleet of Cambay, under the command of Mel-ek As, the 
governor of Din, came to the support of the enemy, he re- 
cognised the necessity of retreat. 

But in order to avoid the appearance of flight, the Portu- 
guese squadron left the harbour by day — the merchant-ships 
in front, and then, one behind the other, the men-of-war. 
Lourengo himself covered the rear. At first every attack of 
the hostile fleet was repulsed, until, by an unlucky accident, 
the battle took an unexpected turn. 

At the entrance of the harbour were several rows of mov- 
able piles — thin poles fixed into stones sunk in the water 
— which the fishermen used to fasten their nets to. They in 
no way hindered ships sailing out, since they bent under 
them. But a hole had been made in Louren9o's vessel under 
the water by a shell from one of the enemy's guns, and into 
this hole one of the poles got fixed. Thus the ship became 
entangled in the other piles, and was kept back, while the 
others sailed prosperously out into the open sea. 

The enemy immediately rushed from all sides upon the 
vessel, to the assistance of which the others could not come. 
A boat which the nearest Portuguese ship despatched to 
rescue the crew Lourengo sent back, and he and his men pre- 
pared for a death struggle. The ship and the crew seemed 
in the very jaws of destruction, but Lourengo showed no signs 
of surrendering. Soon a ball carried away half his thigh. He 
was then compelled to allow himself to be placed on a chair 
near the mainmast, and thus he continued to cheer on his men 



I T 2 A Century of Discovery. 

until a second ball carried away half his ribs, and he fell. 
The death of this heroic youth increased the fury of the 
Portuguese crew, and strengthened them in their determina- 
tion to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Three times was 
the enemy driven back ; and when at length they succeeded 
in boarding the ship, they founds among the heaps of slain, 
only nineteen men, all severely wounded, whom they took 
prisoners. 

Although this glorious defeat only increased the reputation 
for superhuman bravery which the Portuguese had gained in 
India, It yet showed that the dreaded enemy was not altogether 
invincible, and made the Indian princes inclined to enter into 
negotiations with the Emir. 

This determined the Viceroy, who had his son's death tO' 
avenge, to make a great attack on the Mohammedan fleet, 
which had retired to the peninsula of Gijerat. 

During the summer the m^en-of-war were refitted, and when 
in the autumn the merchant fleet came from Portugal it also 
was equipped for war. Just as they were preparing to start 
from Cananore Alfonso de Albuquerque arrived, having, while 
at Ormuz, been appointed successor to Almeida in the vice- 
royalt5^ He demanded immediate installation in his office, 
reminding Almeida that his three years had expired. The 
latter, however, decidedly refused to lay down his power until 
he had executed his scheme of revenge. " I have already," 
he said, " drawn the sword, and am not accustomed to sur- 
render it to another in order that he may avenge wrongs done 
to me." 

This refusal led to a serious quarrel between the two great 
men. It even went so far that Albuquerque was arrested by 
Almeida, but finally ended in a complete reconciliation. 
Whilst Albuquerque went to Cochin and undertook the 
government of. the factories, Almeida, on the 12th Decem.ber, 
1508, went towards the north with a fleet of 19 sail, on which 




LOUREN^o i;E Almeida's last engagement. 



Francisco de Almeida. 113 

there were 1200 Portuguese soldiers and sailors and 400 
Malabar auxiliaries from Cochin and Cananore. Among the 
Indian Princes who, after Lorenzo's death at Choul, had 
negotiated with Emir Hossein, the most important was a 
Persian, named Sabayo. In his best harbour, Dabul, which 
was strongly fortified and garrisoned with 6000 men, there 
was stored up for the Moorish merchants, to whom Sabayo 
was allied by a common faith, a large quantity of Indian wares 
ready for lading. 

Almeida ordered this harbour to be stormed. It was taken 
after a hard struggle and given over to the troops to plunder. 
But a fire broke out, and the town, with all its treasures, was 
reduced to a heap of ashes. 

The Portuguese fleet then proceeded to Diu, This town, 
which is situated on a little island south of the peninsula of 
Gujerat, was the most important harbour of the kingdom of 
Cambay, and, on account of its position, peculiarly well fitted 
as a station for a fleet intended to rule the Indian Ocean. 
For this reason, the Emir Hossein had gone thither, and had 
found in Melech As, the Governor of Diu, a warm ally. More 
than 200 ships prepared for war lay in the harbour, among 
which were about 100 small ones which the Zamorin had 
sent to their aid. 

Undismayed, the Portuguese pressed into the harbour ; a 
frightful battle ensued, which ended with the flight of the 
Zamorin's ships, and the utter destruction of the Egyptian 
fleet. The victors had thirty killed and 300 wounded ; the 
enemy lost 1500 men, among whom were 440 Mamelukes, 
who had defended themselves to the last. Of the captured 
ships, Almeida only retained six ; the rest he set fire to. The 
booty was very considerable, and two Egyptian standards 
were sent as trophies to Portugal. 

This battle put an end for ever to the attempts of the 
Egyptians to destroy, or, at any rate, to injure the Portuguese 

8 



114 A Century of Discovery. 

trade in India, A short time after (15 1 8) the kingdom of the 
Mamelukes fell into the hands of the Turks, who, in 1538, 
made a single vain attempt to establish themselves in 
India, 

In the pride of conquest, Almeida returned to Cochin. 
Very unwillingly did he surrender his dignity to Albu- 
querque, He would much have liked to have carried out 
the great undertaking he had planned. Before he could 
embark on board the fleet, which every year returned to 
Portugal, and leave behind what had been the scene of 
his labours for so many years, he was obliged to witness 
the honours which had hitherto been his pass to his suc- 
cessor. 

Much displeased at the ingratitude which he fancied he 
had experienced, he set sail, on November 19th, 1509, for his 
home, where he might be sure of an honourable reception and 
a rich reward. But no such happy fate was in store for the 
hero ; a premature and inglorious death awaited him. 

In Saldanha Bay, not far from the Cape of Good Hope, the 
squadron cast anchor to take in water. While Almeida and 
the crew — consisting of 150 men — were thus engaged, they 
became involved in a quarrel with the negroes, who fell upon 
the Portuguese, and drove them back to their boats. Unfor- 
tunately, the boats had drifted along the shore, and so 
they had to make their retreat over a long stretch of burning 
sand. Stones and spears meanwhile were hurled at the ex- 
hausted men, and many a noble Portuguese was stretched 
upon the earth. 

Among them was Almeida, pierced through the breast with 
a spear. 

His body was buried at the spot where he fell. The 
sad news plunged all Portugal into deep mourning. King 
Emanuel honoured his memory by rich presents to his 








DEATH OF FRANCISCO DK Al.MKIDA IN SAl.UANUA iiAY. 



Francisco de Almeida. 115 

family : and King Ferdinand of Aragon, on the receipt of the 
melancholy tidings, retired into solitude (as was the custom 
on the death of a person of royal blood), in honour of the 
man who had performed such heroic deeds before the walls 
of Granada. 



8—2 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ALFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE. 

The new Viceroy, who^ in the prime of life — he was born in 145 3 
— entered upon his office, was no novice in Indian affairs. He 
had, as we have seen, defended the fort of Cochin against the 
attacks of the Zamorin ; and lately, the enterprises with which 
the King had entrusted him on the coasts of East Africa and 
Arabia, had given him full opportunity to display his heroism, 
his powers as a general, and his force of character. Entering 
on his office in the autumn of 1509, he immediately com- 
menced a course of policy completely different to that of his 
predecessor. Almeida had made it his object to maintain the 
Portuguese supremacy on the sea, and to secure the Indian 
trade, which, in the few years since Vasco da Gama's landing 
at Calicut, had made Portugal the richest country in Europe. 
In his opinion, it was well to be satisfied with a few strong 
factories on the mainland of India, because the distance of the 
mother country made it difficult to supply forces sufficient 
either for making conquests or for retaining conquests when 
made. 

Albuquerque considered such limits unworthy. He did not. 
wish to work merely for the present, but to do something 
which should last for all time. The employment of providing 
as much pepper and cinnamon as possible for the market of 
Lisbon did not satisfy him ; but to lay the foundations of a new 
empire seemed to him a worthy object. And it was just the 
distance of the mother country which in his eyes rendered it 



Alfonso de Alhtquei^que. 117 

necessary to create a power In India sufficient to support the 
Portuguese dominion on the sea without having to wait for 
months for help from home. With these views, which the 
event justified, Albuquerque undertook to found the Portu- 
guese Empire in India, and this self-imposed task he nobly 
accomplished. 

At first he felt himself in some degree obstructed by the 
presence of the Marshal Fernando Coutinho, who had arrived 
shortly before Almeida's departure, and held a joint command 
with him. Against his better judgment, he was obliged to 
join in a war which Coutinho had planned against Calicut. 
Together they appeared with a considerable force before the 
town, on which already signal chastisement had often been 
inflicted, and on January 2nd, 15 10, began to storm it. They 
succeeded in making themselves masters of the town ; but in 
the somewhat distant castle of the Zamorin the native soldiers 
defended themselves most obstinately. The Portuguese who 
had penetrated so far were cut off from the main force, and 
surrounded in their retreat in the thick woods which environed 
the town. The Marshal himself and eighty men lost their 
lives. Albuquerque avenged their death by burning down 
the whole town and all the ships found in the harbour ; then 
he forsook the untenable spot. 

In the very same month he sailed again out of Cochin 
at the head of a fleet of twenty-one sail, bearing 1600 armed 
men. His object originally was Ormuz, which he intended 
to punish for resisting him twice ; but on the way he suddenly 
changed his mind, and determined upon a coitp de main against 
Goa. This town, which had flourished for many years on the 
Moorish trade, lay on a little island named Tissuari, which, 
three miles long from east to west, and " a mile from north to 
south, is situated in 15° 30' north latitude, on the west coast of 
India, from which it is only separated by a narrow arm of the 
sea. It had a secure harbour, difficult of access, however. 



1 1 8 A Century of Discovery. 

during the summer monsoon. Next to Dabul, which lay more 
to the north, and which Almeida had burnt, it was the chief 
trading-place for the kingdom of Beejapoor and the other 
states which had separated from the great empire of the 
Deccan. This island, which lies about half-way down the 
coast of Malabar, Albuquerque destined to be the future 
centre of the Portuguese dominions which he intended to 
found. 

The moment was well chosen. Sabayo was just dead, and 
his son ismael Adil Khan, whose name the Portuguese turned 
into Hidalkano, was expecting an attack from the neighbour- 
ing princes, who had unwillingly submitted to the usurpation 
of Sabayo, having been specially provoked by his marriage 
with the daughter of the lawful King of the Deccan, and by 
the claims to the supremacy which he founded upon it. It. 
was not therefore to be expected that Hidalkan would be.- 
able to defend Goa. This good news, brought by Timoja,, 
who was the captain of the Anchediva pirates, and since 
Gama's time had been a faithful ally of Portugal's, decided 
the Viceroy to make an immediate attack upon the important- 
town, which, after a short resistance on the 25th of February,. 
1 5 10, fell into his hands. They immediately began to build 
a church, to appoint magistrates, and to take all the measures 
necessary for defence, for they felt pretty certain that Hidal- 
kan would use his utmost efforts to recover his most impor- 
tant port. 

And so it happened. A vanguard of 10,000 men forced. a 
passage over the narrow strait which separates the island from 
the mainland, and sat down before the town. Then Hidalkan 
himself approached with 60,000 men, among whom were 5000 
horse-soldiers. Opposed to such an overwhelming force were 
the Spaniards, behind unfinished ramparts, and surrounded 
by the native inhabitants of the place, and by Moors whose 
sympathies were all on the side of the besiegers. Albuquerque 



Alfonso de Alhtquerqtie. 119 

therefore determined for the present to give up his conquest 
and withdraw to his fleet. The monsoon, however, began to 
blow, and hindered the ships from sailing away, and three 
months of the greatest suffering ensued. Besides continual 
conflicts with the enemy — for "three drops of Portuguese 
blood flowed for every drop of water " that they procured— 
a fearful pestilence broke out in the army, and carried off 
numbers of brave men. Still they held out courageously, 
and at last, in August, 15 10, were able to get away from the 
fatal spot. 

But Albuque rque was far from being deterred from the 
execution of his plans by this first calamity. Scarcely allowing 
himself any time for rest, he again left Cochin — much to the 
vexation of the Prince, who disliked the idea of the Portuguese 
head-quarters being removed to Goa, since it would considerably 
diminish both his revenue and importance — and sailed with 
twenty-three ships, having on board 1500 Portuguese and 300 
natives of Malabar, against Goa. The town was defended by 
a garrison of 9000 men, Hidalkan being engaged in the field 
against some of the neighbouring princes. 

On the 25th of November, 15 10, the Portuguese, whose 
courage despised all obstacles, again entered the town. In- 
deed, taking advantage of a panic which spread among the 
enemy, they took possession not only of the whole island, but 
also of a strip of the mainland opposite. The treacherous 
Moors were tried, and either put to death or driven out of the 
town. But full security, both of life and property, was granted 
to the Indian inhabitants, and when they had off'ered their 
submission and pledged themselves to pay the usual taxes, 
Albuquerque gave them a native chief, in the Prince of Onor, 
Melreu, whose duty it should be to judge them and to collect 
and deliver up the taxes. By such lenient treatment he sought 
to reconcile the great body of the people with the new order 
of things. And with the same object he encouraged the 



I20 A Century of Discovery. 

marriages of the Portuguese with Indian women. To such 
young couples he gave the houses, fields, and gardens of the 
exiled Moors, and in this way created a burgher class, on 
whom he could depend, and to whom he gave the offices of 
greatest trust in the town. 

Changing thus what had hitherto been a mere system of 
pillage and oppression into a regular and well-ordered govern- 
ment, he naturally made many enemies among the Portu- 
guese, who looked upon themselves as defrauded, and sent 
prejudicial reports to the King. 

No one, however, ventured openly to oppose the great man, 
who soon succeeded in giving Goa an importance greater 
than that it had hitherto possessed. New buildings sprang 
up, numbers of ships were fitted out in the harbour, and in 
the mint, which Albuquerque set up, gold, silver, and copper 
coins were struck off that soon found their way into all the 
Indian harbours, 

A particular importance was given to Goa by an enactment 
of the Viceroy, which prohibited to all the other East Indian 
ports the traffic in Arab horses. Since the climate of a great 
part of India makes the breeding of good horses impossible, 
the Indian princes were obliged to import Arab horses, in 
order to maintain their cavalry, the flower of their army, in a 
fit condition for war. All this important traffic was now 
turned to Goa, and brought in a considerable revenue. At 
last Albuquerque, in order to render the trade secure, erected 
a great fort, which he called Manuel, in honour of the King. 
In it he placed a garrison of 400 men, 80 of whom were horse- 
soldiers, while Melreu commanded a body of 5000 Indians. 
To such forces could be trusted the defence of Goa against 
any attempt which Hidalkan might make to recover it, and 
in March, 15 10, Albuquerque quitted it for new enterprises. 

Of course Hidalkan immediately attempted another siege, 
but the garrison held out bravely until help arrived and then 



Alfonso de AlbtLqtLerque. 12 1 

made a sally. This was repeated many times until, in the 
autumn of 15 12, Albuquerque himself stormed the enemy's 
fortress Benestarin, which covered the passage from the main- 
land to the island, and so alarmed Hidalkan that he begged 
for peace. Henceforth the possession of Goa was secured, 
and the town rapidly rose to an importance which was much 
increased by its being made the seat of government. 

The great change which now took place in Portuguese 
politics did not fail to produce a deep impression on the Indian 
princes, who up to this point had esteemed it beneath their 
princely dignity to enter into negotiations with the Portuguese, 
whom they looked upon as pirates. Ambassadors came to 
Goa from all the great kingdoms of South India, in order to 
enter into alliance with the new power. The hostile Kings of 
Calicut and Cambay begged for peace, and consented to allow 
the building of forts in Calicut and DIu. 

With every spice fleet which returned to Portugal went am- 
bassadors from Indian princes with presents to King Emanuel 
and assurances of friendship. Thus the bold capture and 
brave maintenance of Goa secured to the Portuguese power a 
firm hold over the whole west coast of India. The trade 
also was regulated by treaties. All ships that were not 
Portuguese were excluded from traffic in the harbours of the 
allied princes, unless they could show Portuguese passes. 

After these great successes the restless Albuquerque turned 
himself to new tasks in the far east. When the Portuguese 
had taken possession of the land whence ginger, pepper, and 
cinnamon are brought into the European market, their atten- 
tion had been directed to the coasts which produce camphor, 
the nutmeg, and the clove ; that is to say, the Sunda Islands 
and the Moluccas. 

Mysterious and dark as is the early history of these distant 
lands, it is yet certain that they have for a long period played 
an important part in the commerce of Asia. The merchant 



122 A Century of Discovery. 

fleets of civilised nations, which sought their valuable produc- 
tions, and the lively intercourse maintained by them with 
Chinese; Arabs, and Indians, had aroused the gifted Malay 
inhabitants of these islands and coasts. There, too, the re- 
ligions of other countries had found a ready reception. As 
Buddhism had conquered Brahminism, so it, in turn, had given 
way before the Islamism spread by the Arabs, which shortly be- 
fore the arrival of the Portuguese had become the general faith. 

Of the native races, two showed themselves peculiarly re- 
ceptive of external influences ; the Javanese and the Ourang- 
loutjOr men of the sea, who, having their origin in Sumatra, have 
established themselves on the various coasts, and distinguish 
themselves by their remarkable skill as sailors and traders, 
and also by their inveterate inclination for piracy. 

In very early times there were regular social institutions ; 
and the splendid ruins on the island are a proof of the advance 
even then made by the Javanese. When the Portuguese 
appeared on their coasts there existed several Mahometan 
principalities which, with much mistrust, entered into trade 
with the foreigners, and a century later were swallowed up in 
one kingdom. The Ourang-lout had, in ii6o, built on a little 
island at the south of the Malay peninsula the town of Singa- 
pore, which had quickly become the centre of trade in that 
neighbourhood. But, oppressed by the jealous King of Siam, 
they had deserted this city, and, in 1253, had built, farther 
west and in a singularly fine position, the town of Malacca, 
which soon had risen to importance, and had diverted the 
stream of comxmerce from its old course round Sumatra and 
through the Straits of Sunda, into the Straits of Malacca and" 
between Nicobar and Andaman. The princes and people of 
the Ourang-lout had soon afterwards embraced Islamism, and 
were continually engaged in war with the Buddhist Emperor 
of Siam. From the Portuguese accounts we gain but a slight 
impression of the uncommon prosperity of this commercial 



Alfonso de Albttquerque. 123 

town ; but we learn from them that between 30,000 and 
40,000 houses were scattered for a mile along the coast, so we 
may calculate the population at about 150,000. Besides the 
Ourang-lout, who were the governing race, numerous foreign 
traders had settled there. These were divided into four 
quarters — that of the Javanese, Moors, Bengalees, and 
Chinese, each with its own chief. Among the merchant 
families there was such wealth that they reckoned their 
property by tons of gold. 

To this great emporium of trade Almeida had sent, as early 
as 1509, Diego Lopez de Segueira with five ships, and orders 
to conclude a treaty with the Sultan of Malacca. The genuine 
Portuguese recklessness, with which on the way Segueira 
seized some ships and burnt them because they had not Por- 
tuguese passes, did not prevent his being well received by the 
Sultan. But this act caused so many delays, intrigues, and 
secret plots against the Portuguese, that at last he lost 
patience and returned without finishing his business. Indeed;, 
he left several of his countrymen prisoners in the hand of the 
Sultan, but threatened due revenge if they were badly treated. 
To fulfil this threat Albuquerque appeared in the Malacca 
roads on the ist of July, 15 11, with nineteen ships, carrying 
800 Portuguese and 600 armed natives of Malabar. 

All negotiations for peace having been put an end to by the 
exorbitant demands of the Portuguese and the contemptuous 
refusal of the Sultan, hostilities began. In a military point of 
view, the most important feature of the town was a bridge 
over the little river that divided the town into two halves — 
the north and foreigners' quarter ; and the south, containing 
the palaces of the Sultan and native nobility. 

The first attack on this bridge failed, with heavy loss to the 
assailants ; but a second attempt, on the loth of August, suc- 
ceeded ; and from the strong position thus won, piece by 
piece, the whole town was conquered in a few days, while the 



124 -^ Century of Discovery. 

Sultan fled. Of all the inhabitants, only the Ourang-lout and 
Moors were treated as enemies ; all the Javanese, Chinese, and 
Hindus were spared. The booty was immense, and is said to 
have exceeded a million ducats. 

With his accustomed energy, Albuquerque began the build- 
ing of a Christian church, and of a strong fortress, in which he 
placed a garrison of 300 men. He made the same civil ar- 
rangement as in Goa. He appointed a native governor of the 
city, and native judges for the Mahometans and Buddhists, 
from whose judgment, however, there was to be an appeal to 
the Portuguese tribunal. The tolls for exported and imported 
goods were fixed, and produced a considerable revenue. A 
mint was also set up. 

Edouard Fernandez and Ruy da Cunha were sent as am- 
bassadors to the neighbouring Emperors of Siam and Pegu, 
They succeeded in forming alliances with these courts, and 
on their return gave the most astonishing accounts of their 
Oriental magnificence. Antonio de Abreu was despatched 
with three ships and 120 men, in order to visit the Banda and 
Molucca Islands, the home of the most important spices. 

Without waiting for the return of all these am.bassadors, 
Albuquerque left Malacca in the spring of 15 12, leaving 
Fernam Peres de Anrade behind as governor. But the return 
voyage to India was very disastrous, owing to unfavourable 
weather. 

On the coast of Sufnatra, the flag- ship and several others 
were wrecked on a sand-bank, and the crews only saved with 
great difiiculty, while " the richest booty ever seen since the 
discovery of India " was buried beneath the waves. Quick and 
successful as had been the undertaking against Malacca, the 
maintenance of that important place was very difficult, and 
called for m.any sacrifices. Many enemies from the outside 
came to the support of the inhabitants, who felt themselves 
ill-used by misrule, often by injustice and utter want of con- 



Alfonso de Albuque^^qiLe. 125 

sideration. Javanese pirates threatened the town, and the 
exiled Sultan several times established himself in the neigh- 
bourhood, and pressed upon the Portuguese fortress both by 
land and water. The little garrison was often hard beset ; 
but it held out until, with the monsoon, a fleet came to its 
relief from India. 

Driven out of his haunts, the old Sultan drew back to the 
neighbouring island, Bintang, while on the peninsula itself his 
son founded a new kingdom, which still stands. This struggle 
for the existence of the Portuguese rule in Malacca lasted for 
years. In 1526, the island, Bintang, was taken, and then the 
possession of Malacca could be reckoned secure. 

For a long time after his return from Malacca, the Viceroy 
was occupied with the ordering of the Portuguese possessions 
in Malabar; yet at the same he made preparations for another 
great undertaking. This time he wished to pay the Arabs a 
visit in the Red Sea itself, and, if possible, to prevent them 
coming into the Indian Seas at all. 

At last a fleet of twenty ships of war was ready, manned 
by 1700 Portuguese and 800 allied natives of Malabar. On 
the 1 8th of February, 15 13, they set sail, and on the 24th of 
March they appeared before Aden, a very strong town, with an 
excellent harbour, situated on the south coast of Arabia (45° 5'^ 
east longitude). The possession of this harbour would have 
made the Portuguese masters of the Red Sea, just as now, in 
the hands of the English, it is the key to that sea. The im- 
portance of the place decided Albuquerque to make an attack, 
which, however, was repulsed, in spite of the great bravery 
displayed by the Portuguese in a struggle which lasted four 
hours. The strong position and good defences of the town 
rendered it useless to attempt another assault ; so the fleet 
sailed away through the Straits of Babelmandeb (the Gate of 
Sorrow) into the Red Sea. 

These straits are six miles broad, but there are seven islands 



126 A Ceiitztry of Discovery. 

in them, which render their navigation in stormy weather dan- 
gerous even for sailors who have a knowledge of the place. 
But the Red Sea is even worse. The Arabs call it the Closed 
Sea, and it is only in the middle that there is just a narrow 
channel of deep water. In this channel there is not much 
danger to be feared ; but it is subject to frequent calms, which 
render a voyage along it very tedious. But along both the 
African and Arabian coasts are many rocks and islands with 
shallow straits between them. The coasts are, indeed, only 
accessible by the help of experienced pilots, and even these 
always observe the precaution of casting anchor every night. 

Under such circumstances, the Portuguese fleet made but slow 
progress, and at last was obliged to lie to for two months off 
the island of Kamarang, near the Arabian coast. But with 
the first favourable wind, Albuquerque left this unhealthy 
spot, which had brought sickness and death among his men, 
and hastened to quit the treacherous sea, in which he could 
find no place suitable for a fortress. The undertaking had 
failed, but the Arabs were frightened by Albuquerque's bold- 
ness, he being the first of all Christian sailors to penetrate 
into the Red Sea. 

On the return voyage several Arab ships were captured, and 
then the fleet sailed to Diu, v/hose cunning Governor, Melek 
As, had not yet consented to the building of a Portuguese 
fortress. Having returned again to Goa, the Viceroy devoted 
the whole year, 15 14, to the affairs of government, which de- 
manded a close attention. 

Numerous and very often just complaints were brought to 
him of the covetousness and tyranny of the officials, and these 
complaints demanded from him a stern interference. His 
impartiality and high sense of justice were now fully seen ; 
but it was only to be expected that many of the men who 
suffered at his hands should express themselves as dissatisfied, 
and even assume a hostile attitude towards the Viceroy. 



Alfonso de Aldtiquerque. 127 

He knew liis enemies quite well, but continued to act 
■towards them in a most generous manner, and contented 
himself with sending those to Portugal for punishment whom 
he could prove to be guilty of treason. But the men thus 
sent hastened to spread all sorts of calumnies with regard to 
Albuquerque, making capital, of course, of the disastrous 
.expedition to the Red Sea, which had cost so much money 
and so many human lives. They succeeded only too well in 
destroying King Emanuel's confidence in him. He was 
rendered more ready to listen to their reports by the fact that 
his self-love had been wounded by Albuquerque's decided 
refusal to carry out some of his orders; for instance, to evacuate 
Goa. Thus the fall of Albuquerque was preparing in Portugal 
while he, in the full consciousness of his faithfulness and 
receiving tokens of royal favour, believed himself to be 
secure. 

Just at that time Albuquerque was occupied with active pre- 
parations against Ormuz. To be sure, the tribute to which the 
King had pledged himself had been, at least in part, paid, but 
no exhortation with regard to the fort which he had promised 
to build produced any effect. And the place seemed to Al- 
buquerque so important that he swore he would not shave 
or cut his beard until he had enforced performance of the 
promise. 

At last all the preparations were complete, and Albuquerque 
was able, with a fleet consisting of fourteen large men-of-war, 
seven caravels, and six galleys, and having on board 1500 
Portuguese and 700 Indians, to proceed from Goa against the 
town which had so long occupied his care and attention. 

On the 26th of March the fleet arrived at Ormuz, where 
immediately the greatest alarm ensued. The leading persons 
in the town were no longer the same as the Portuguese had 
found eight years before; and a new King was on the throne; 
but, like his predecessors, completely in the power of his First 



128 A Century of Discovery. 

Minister. This man, a Persian of the name of Ahmed, in- 
tended to play into the hands of the Persian Shah Ismael, 
and had therefore provided a strong garrison of Persian 
archers. Still he did not dare to bid defiance to the great 
power of Albuquerque, and entered into negotiations which 
ended in a complete ratification of the previous treaty. As 
a sign of the Portuguese supremacy, the Portuguese standard 
was unfurled on the royal castle, which was greeted by a 
salute from the fleet. In a short time the fortress was erected 
on the most favourable place and armed by the King of Or- 
muz with all his guns, which, however, he was unwilling to 
give up. 

When Albuquerque saw that the discontent of the King 
was nourished by his minister, he freed himself in an oriental 
manner of the dangerous man, having him struck down by 
some Portuguese noblemen while on a visit. The King, whom 
this murder relieved from a most disagreeable subjection, 
henceforth honoured and loved Albuquerque as his deliverer, 
and the latter strove, by a dignified conciliatoriness, to render 
the relation between them firm and lasting. 

A disease which attacked Albuquerque in August grew 
worse day by day, and at last made him think of returning 
to Goa. He placed as governor in the fortress at Ormuz his 
nephew, Pedro de Albuquerque, whomhe named ashis successor 
hi case, of his death. Then he set sail on the 8th of Novem- 
ber in tile hope of 3'et recovering his health on the salubrious 
Indian coast. He was met by a Moorish ship, which brought 
him rews from India that utterly crushed him. King Emanuel 
had recalled him to Portugal, and his successor, Lopo Soarez, 
a personal enemy of Albuquerque's, had already arrived in 
Cochin, bringing with him, in offices of high trust, others 
of his opponents^ some even of those very men whom he had 
sent to Portugal for punishment. At the same time he learnt 
that the commands with regard to the government which 




DEATH OF ALBUQUERQUE OFF GOA. 



Alfonso de Albuquerque. 192 

King Emanuel had laid on the new official were diametrically 
opposed to his own plans and principles. 

Such ungrateful treatment he had not expected. He was 
deeply pained and broke out into the words, " Now it is time 
to turn to the Church, for I have ruined myself with the King 
out of love to the people, and with the people out of l(>¥eto 
the King." Henceforth he had done with earthly caresV and 
rejected all nourishment. Only after much persuasion was 
he induced to allow his secretary to write the following letter .. 
to the King : 

" Sir, — This is the final letter which now, at my last gasp, 
I write to your Royal Highness. Many letters have I written 
to you with a lighter heart on occasions when I had succeeded 
in rendering you some service. I leave behind in this land a 
son, Bras de Albuquerque, and I beg your Highness to allow 
him to reap the reward of his father's services. As regards 
Indian affairs, they will speak for themselves and for me," 

The signing of this letter exhausted all his remaining strength. 
When the ship reached Goa they did not venture to carry him 
on shore. A priest was summoned to offer him the last con- 
solations of religion, and on the morning of the i6th of Decem- 
ber, 15 15, he breathed his last in sight of the town which he 
had made the queen of India. His body was buried at first 
in Goa. Hidalgos carried it on their shoulders into the 
church which he had founded, and the whole population of 
the town. Christians, heathens, and Moors, followed with loud 
and sincere lamentation. 

His wish to be buried with his ancestors in Portugal 
was not fulfilled for a considerable time, the inhabitants of 
Goa being unwilling to part with his remains, for which 
they erected a costly shrine. Indeed, soon after Albu- 
querque's death it became the custom among the heathen 
and Moors, when they suffered any injustice from the Gover- 
nor, to repair to his grave, bringing oil for the lamp and adorn- 

9 



130 A Century of Discovery. 

\ng the tomb with flowers, while they implored his departed 
spirit to procure justice for them. It needed a bull from the 
Pope, threatening the inhabitants of Goa with excommunica- 
tion if they any longer opposed the removal of the body, 
before the accomplishment of the great man's last wishes 
could be effected. 

The interment in the family vault in Lisbon, which took 
place on the 6th of April, 1566, was accompanied with much 
pomp and magnificence. 

Alfonso de Albuquerque was of middle height and well-pro- 
portioned ; his features were pleasant and attractive, but no 
one could stand against the wrathful glance of his eye. A 
long snow-white beard fell down to his girdle. In society he 
was agreeable, lively, and full of wit. He had received an 
excellent education for his time, and was well able to express 
his thoughts in writing. Having a keen insight into character, 
he knew how to treat every one according to his peculiarities, 
and had even shown himself a match for the cunning Moors. 
The greatness and precision of his plans, the care employed 
in their preparation, and the speed and power of their execu- 
tion are worthy of all admiration. But still higher honour is 
due to his noble nature, his highmindedness and detestation 
of everything base. It is just this which makes his image stand 
out bright and shining from the background formed by the 
low passions of his countrymen. 

The general grief which his death caused, even in the hearts 
of those who had been hostile to him in life, speaks in the 
clearest manner possible for the noble character of this great 
man. What he did in India, the result has shown. He was 
the founder of the colonial power of the Portuguese in that 
country. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE LAST DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 

Starting from their new possessions, the Portuguese soon 
made themselves acquainted with all the neighbouring 
countries, beginning with those which were most important to 
their rising trade. The Bay of Bengal had been visited by- 
Portuguese ships under Almeida, and a few years later com- 
mercial treaties were concluded with the Indian Princes who 
ruled its coasts. There was, however, a peculiar charm in 
penetrating farther into the mysterious East, and thus a special 
interest was excited by the settlements of the Portuguese in 
the Moluccas and their intercourse with the early civilised 
.states of China and Japan. 

The Moluccas are five little islands lying very close together 
under the equator in 128° east longitude, near the curiously- 
shaped island Gilolo. Their names are, beginning from the 
north, Ternate, Tidor, Motir, Makjan, and the larger Batchang. 

They are of only a few miles' circumference, and in each 
island the centre is occupied by a volcano, so that only the 
narrow coast is fit for habitation and cultivation. But they 
are the home of the nutmeg tree, which is found nowhere else, 
except in the little Banda Islands (4° ^t,' south latitude, 
130° 3' east longitude), and of which the blossom, as mace, and 
the fruit, the nutmeg, are such valuable articles of trade. 

The trade in these spices, carried on by the Javanese, the 
Chinese, and even the Arabs, had created considerable pros- 
perity among the simple inhabitants of these islands, and pro- 

9—2 



132 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

duced an ample revenue for their Princes. When the appear- 
ance of the Portuguese in the Sunda Islands, and their forcible 
settlement in Malacca, caused an entire revolution in the East 
Asiatic trade, the Princes of the Moluccas perceived that it 
would be for their interest to make a friendly alliance with 
the new rulers of the sea, who on their side were aiming at 
extending their influence to the very centre of the spice trade.. 
With such desires on either side it was easy to come to an 
understanding. 

Antonio de Abreu, whom Albuquerque had sent, in 15 ii, 
to search for the Moluccas, only reached the Banda Islands. 
There lading his three ships with nutmegs he began his re- 
turn. But one of these ships, commanded by Francisco 
Serrao, foundered in a storm. Upon this the bold Portuguese 
attacked and captured after a hard struggle a pirate vessel,, 
on board of which they returned to the Island of Amboyna^ 
which lies midway between the Banda Islands and the 
Moluccas. They were fetched off from this island by the 
Prince of Ternate, and Serrao, the first European who had set 
foot on the Moluccas, was overwhelmed by him with tokens of' 
friendship. 

About the same time ambassadors were sent by the Princes- 
of Ternate and Tidor to Malacca, requesting the foundation 
of a Portuguese factory in their islands. The jealousy of the 
two Princes, each vying with the other for the friendship of the 
Portuguese, and each hoping to have the factory built on his 
islandj made the game a very easy one for the Portuguese. 
Nevertheless, a delay of many years took place, and nothing 
was done, until a report arose that the King of Spain was 
preparing to form a settlement in the important group from the 
other side. 

Then they hastened to make up for the delay. ■ The build- 
ing of a fort on Ternate was begun on June 24th, 1522, but 
shortly before some Spaniards from Magalhaens's fleet had 
touched on the islands, and a vehement dispute, which was- 



The Last Discoveries of the PortiigiLese. 133 

only composed after much trouble, arose between the two 
crowns for their possession. 

A commission of Spanish and Portuguese astronomers met 
on a bridge between Badajoz and Elvas, in 1524, to settle the 
question whether, according to the papal bull of 1494, the 
Moluccas belonged to Spain or Portugal. As at that period 
they were not thoroughly conversant with the method of 
fixing the longitude of a place, and there were even different 
opinions about the number of miles in a geographical degree, 
it v/as found impossible to come to an agreement. And it 
was not until 1529 that the matter was settled by a treaty 
between the tv/o kingdoms. The islands became the property 
of Portugal, but had to pass through ten wretched years of 
oppression and violence, until the noble Antonio Galvao, made 
governor in 1536, by his wise and just rule persuaded the 
natives to submit to the Portuguese supremacy, and converted 
many of them to Christianity. 

In the meantime most of the islands of the Sunda group 
had been visited by the Portuguese. On some factories had 
been established and forts built, as, for example, on Java and 
Amboyna. Other places they had been obliged to abandon 
through the violent opposition offered by the natives. Thus 
the Portuguese had not succeeded in establishing themselves 
in Acheen, the north-west part of Sumatra ; indeed, in 1522, 
they were obliged to evacuate a fort they had founded in 
Padang. 

Farther to the east the Portuguese had not extended their 
discoveries, but ships which had been driven by bad weather 
into the region beyond the Moluccas brought back reports of 
great countries. Thus, in 1526, Jorge de Menezes became, 
against his will, the discoverer of New Guinea, which he named 
Papua ; and, in 1601, Emanuel Godinho de Eredia found in 
the south-east a long piece of coast, which proved to be a part 
of the west coast of Australia. 



134 -^ Cenitiry of Discovery. 

The Portuguese had opened communication with China; 
very early. By their settlement at Malacca they had been 
brought so near this old empire , that intercourse between 
them could not be avoided. There were also in Malacca 
multitudes of Chinese settlers, and great numbers of Chinese 
trading vessels or junks were constantly engaged between the 
harbours of the Sunda Islands and China. 

It therefore appeared advisable to form an official connection, 
and Fernam Peres de Andrade Avas sent by the Viceroy, 
Lopez Soares, with eight ships, to open negotiations with 
China. On the 15 th of August, 15 17, he reached the island 
of Tamang, which lies at the entrance of the Bocca Tigris, the 
mouth of the river Se Kiang. Here all foreign ships which 
wished to sail up the river to the harbour of Canton were 
obliged to cast anchor and get permission to do so from the 
harbour officials. 

The Portuguese at once began to experience that evasive 
smoothness and suspicious courtesy with which the Chinese,, 
even to this day, seek to keep at a distance everything and 
everybody that is foreign to them. The requests of the 
strangers were passed from one official to another, and were 
only granted after numberless ceremonies had been gone 
through. 

At the end of September the Portuguese fleets accompanied 
by a pilot, who conducted it through the dangerous passage,, 
arrived in the harbour of Canton. But here they found them- 
selves surrounded by the most injurious mistrust, and hindered 
from anything like free action. It was only owing to the- 
great conciliatoriness of Andrade that a good understanding; 
was maintained, and it was by means of all kinds of conces- 
sions to Chinese arrogance that permission was obtained to 
despatch a Portuguese ambassador to the court of the great 
Emperor, who just at that time was engaged in a war with the 
Tartars in the north of his enormous empire. 



The Last Discoveries of the Porttigiiese. 135 

Thomas Fires, a man of low birth, for he was an apothe- 
cary, but remarkable for his knowledge and his dexterity, was 
chosen for this office. He was put on shore with several 
companions, and was treated by the Chinese magistrate with 
all the consideration due to his office. The Portuguese wares, 
principally Indian spices, were eagerly bought, while the Por- 
tuguese in their turn made purchases in silk and rice. In this 
way they became acquainted with what seemed to them the 
very strange manners and customs of the great commercial 
city, while, thanks to Andrade's judicious management, they 
contrived to keep on good terms with the inhabitants. 

The sickness which broke out among his men made him 
set sail sooner than he had intended to do. Before his depar- 
ture he had notice of it proclaimed in all the markets, in order 
that any one who had any claim upon the Portuguese might 
come and be satisfied. This method of proceeding had a 
very good effect, and when Andrade, in September, 15 17, left 
the Chinese Seas, there existed very friendly relations between 
the two nations, to both of whom Andrade's expedition had 
been of great profit. 

But soon the Portuguese had occasion to notice that the 
unfavourable reports spread by the different nations whom 
they had ill-treated had reached China, and injured their 
position. Pires had to wait for a year in Canton before he 
procured permission from Pekin to proceed to the Emperor's 
court. When at last he was admitted, in 1521, the Emperor 
treated the Portuguese proposals with considerable suspicion, 
and said openly that he had been informed that the Portu- 
guese, under the pretence of trading, reconnoitred lands in order 
to conquer them. 

Then a change took place on the throne, and the new Em- 
peror sent Pires back to Canton, where he was kept in prison, 
all friendly intercourse with the Portuguese being broken off. 
The breach was made irremediable by the arrogant and haughty 



136 A Century of Discovery. 

behaviour of the commander of the Portuguese squadron, 
Simon de Andrade, the brother of his predecessor. A battle en- 
sued before the harbour of Canton, during which, fortunately 
for the Portuguese, a storm arose which scattered the enemy's 
ships and favoured the retreat of the Portuguese. In 1524 
Pires died in chains, his companions were dragged away as 
prisoners into the interior, and all peaceful intercourse between 
the Chinese and Portuguese appeared for ever at an end. 

But after some years matters improved. As a reward for 
the important services rendered by the Portuguese in the sup- 
pression of piracy in the Chinese and Indian Seas, the Emperor 
Kang-hi granted them leave, in 1556, to establish a factory in 
the harbour of Canton. 

The peninsula Macao was chosen for the purpose ; a brick 
wall was built across the narrow sandy peninsula which unites 
it to the mainland ; and with well-founded mistrust the Portu- 
guese were forbidden to build a fort or to cross this wall on 
any pretext whatever. But they knew how to manage : they 
built a cloister with portholes, and a bishop's palace, which 
they provided with cannon; and they placed in the new town 
a strong garrison under the name of trading officials. Under 
such protection Macao soon began to flourish. On the sandy 
coast magazines sprang up, and on the naked rock beautiful 
houses ; while the fleets of Malacca, Goa, and Lisbon anchored 
in its harbour. This jDrosperity lasted till the eighteenth 
century. Then the place rapidly sank, partly in consequence 
of the new commercial treaties which China formed with the 
Dutch and P2nglish, and partly on account of the deterioration 
of its inhabitants, in which the worst elements of the Chinese 
character had become evident. The corrupt descendants of 
the Portuguese settlers were indeed barely tolerated ; the 
Chinese had become the real masters, and the Mandarins of 
Canton had more influence in the Portuguese colony of Macao 
than the King of Portugal and his officers. 



The Last Discoveries of the Portugitese. 137 

Before the resumption of friendly relations with China, the 
Portuguese had visited the group of islands which lie near 
Japan, and in 1542 had reached that remarkable archipelago. 
In all the harbours of that empire they met with a friendly 
reception, and were able to carry on a profitable trade. At 
the same time a most rich and fruitful field was opened here 
for Christian missions. After the arrival of the celebrated 
Jesuit, Francis Xavier, the number of conversions increased 
year by year, until, in 1589, a terrible persecution of the 
Christians began, which lasted for fifty years, and at length 
completely rooted out Christianity. 

At the same time that this persecution occurred, all the 
Japanese harbours were closed against the Portuguese, and 
indeed against all Christian nations, with the exception of the 
Dutch, who, under a surveillance that was scarcely bearable, 
and on the most humiliating terms, were allowed to maintain 
a factory on the little artificial Island of Desima. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE PORTUGUESE RULE IN INDIA AND ITS DECLINE. 

As early as the year 1508 the great extent of the Portuguese- 
possessions in India had compelled King Emanuel to divide- 
their rule. He appointed two governors — the one, with his 
seat of office on the Island of Socotra, was to rule over the 
coasts of East Africa and of Asia as far as the peninsula of 
Gujerat; and to the other, who was to reside at Cochin, was. 
given the control of Malabar. 

But like so many appointments which are settled in royal 
cabinets without a correct knowledge of the true state of 
matters, this arrangement was soon seen to be perfectly im- 
practicable. The Island of Socotra was perfectly unsuitable for 
a settlement, and the management of all affairs in the Arabian 
and Persian Seas needed henceforth to be under the control 
of the Indian Viceroy. So it was finally arranged that all the 
East African settlements should be placed under a govern- 
ment of their own, while all the other possessions on the coasts- 
of Arabia, Persia, India, and the Sunda Islands should be.- 
handed over to the Viceroy, who should reside at Goa. 

But in later years even this arrangement proved insufficient 
The Viceroy's territory was too large to be governed from one 
spot. Under King Sebastian, therefore, in 1 571, all the pos- 
sessions east of Cape Comorin were placed under a new 
governor, who had his headquarters in Malacca. 

Goa, however, was still considered the capital of Portuguese 
India, and it displayed all the magnificence suited to such a 



The Porht^uese Rule in India and its Decline. 



"<i> 



I 



position. Its population was 200,000, principally Indians^ 
though a good number of Portuguese settlers and a mongrel 
race, the offspring of the mixed marriages between Europeans 
and Indians, were to be seen in the magnificent streets, re- 
markable for their handsome stone buildings. The public 
squares were adorned with fountains, triumphal arches, and 
statues, whilst among the eighty churches might be seen, 
towering above them all, the gigantic dome of the cathedraL- 
In 1559, the Bishop of Goa had been raised to the dignity of 
Archbishop and Patriarch of all India, and the Bishops of 
Cochin and Malacca were placed under him. The Viceroy's 
palace, which lay near the harbour, was a very imposing 
building. 

Among the Viceroys who resided here, Nomo da Cunha, 
1528 — 38; Juan de Castro, 1545 — 48; and Louis de Ataide, 
1568 — 71, distinguished themselves by their abilities and 
governing powers, as well as by great deeds of arms. As with 
the decline of the Portuguese power the number of inhabitants 
began to diminish, so also the climate of Goa, which had 
hitherto been very favourable, began to change, and became 
so fatal that in the beginning of the eighteenth century New 
Goa was built, some miles from the old city, and thither both 
the Government and population rem.oved. Since that time 
Old Goa has become a heap of ruins, and only a few hundred 
people live in it. 

The dominions of Portugal in Asia were very scattered. 
On the coast of Malabar it possessed fortresses in Cochin and 
Cananore, etc. To each of these fortresses was attached a 
small piece of territory, which was the property of the Portu- 
guese crown, while the principal revenue was drawn from the 
tolls and from all sorts of privileges which they possessed.. 
But it was different with Goa, Here not only the island, but 
a large piece of territory on the neighbouring coast was the 
immediate property of the Portuguese ; and it was carefully 



1 40 A Century of Discovery. 

cultivated by a hardy population. Farther north the Portu- 
guese possessed the island of Salsette, the harbours of Choul, 
Bassim, and Daman, and the important Diu. In this latter 
place they had first established a firm footing as somewhat 
obtrusive allies of the Sultan of Cambay, who had been at- 
tacked by the Mongols. They had then established a fort ; 
but the next year, on the murder of Badur, who, returning 
from a visit to the Viceroy, became, in some mysterious man- 
ner, involved in a quarrel with the Portuguese, the whole 
island of Diu, with its excellent harbour, fell into their hands. 
A few years later it was defended with heroic braver}' against 
a powerful Turkish fleet. From that time forward it was, 
after Goa, the most important harbour which Portugal pos- 
sessed in India. 

One rich source of revenue M'as the money paid in tolls at 
Ormuz, whose King sank more and more into a dependent 
condition. But the advances of the Turks, \\\\o had taken 
possession of Aden and the land at the mouth of the Tigris 
and Euphrates, gradually lessened the importance of the 
place. 

On Ceylon the Portuguese had fortresses in Galle and 
Colombo. In the treaties which, taking advantage of their 
mutual discord, they concluded with the different native 
princes, they exacted a yearly tribute in the productions of 
the island. 

In the extreme east^ IMalacca, whose harbour tolls steadily 
increased in value, was the centre for the numerous posses- 
sions of the Portuguese on the Sunda Islands and of their 
trade with China and Japan. 

The history of these possessions is that of one continual 
struggle against the hostile powers which laboured for their 
destruction. It v/as necessary to be ever on the watch against 
the attacks of the Turks, as well as against the designs of the 
native princes, who were continually seeking to shake off the 



The Portuguese Ride in India ana its Decline. 141 

yoke of the Portuguese. The Zamorin of CaHcut especially 
was continually making attempts to recover the position of 
influence and importance which he had held before the arrival 
of the Portuguese. It was not until 1540 that he was brought 
to conclude a peace which lasted for thirty years — the happiest 
years of Portuguese rule in India. At the conclusion of that 
period the great alliance of Indian princes was formed which, 
in 1 57 1, began the war against Portugal. At one and the 
same time Choul was besieged by the Nizam Orhan, the suc- 
cessor of the Nizam Maluk; Goa by Hidalkan, and Shalle by 
the Zamorin, while smaller princes threatened the harbours 
of Cananore, Culet, and Cochin ; and the Sultan of Acheen 
reduced Malacca to the greatest distress. 

But the great Viceroy, Louis de Ataide, b}^ straining to the 
utmost all the powers of the Portuguese, who displayed the 
most heroic courage, succeeded in driving back the monstrous 
armies of the enemy, and only Shalle, which the guns of the 
Zamorin turned into a mere heap of ruins, was lost. 

Peace was soon restored ; but the Portuguese were not able 
to overcome the dislike which their behaviour from the very 
beginning had called forth in the Indian princes. This was 
seen when other Europeans — the Dutch and English — ap- 
peared in India, and were received with much goodwill, be- 
cause they were looked upon as valuable allies against the 
Portuguese. The unwise and often unjust measures of govern- 
ment contributed not a little to foster this feeling of hostility, 
and it was further increased by the covetousness and arrogance 
displayed in its administration. Since the great thing was to 
bring as much money as possible into the royal treasury, 
oppression and robbery were resorted to to procure it. Thus 
the tribute demanded from the Prince of Ormuz was in a few 
years raised from the 15,000 ducats, which he had agreed 
to, to 20,000, 25,000, 60,000, and 100,000. 

These sums were more than the King could pay, and there- 



J 42 A Centuiy of Discovery. 

fore, in the year 1543, lie was a debtor to the Portuguese trea- 
sury for no less than 518,537 ducats. In order to collect this 
the royal household was remodelled in the most economical 
manner. At last a claim was laid by the Portuguese upon 
the duties which the King raised on palm wine ; and it was 
with much difficulty that they were induced to withdraw it, 
although the poor King declared that he did not know what 
he should have left to live upon. 

The King of Colombo, a faithful ally of the Portuguese, was 
treated in much the same way. The Viceroy, Alfonso de 
Noronha, in 1550, caused the palace of the late King to be 
searched, just as if all in it belonged to him by right, and 
finally had it plundered ; while at the same time he defrauded 
the new King in the most shameless manner, and, by the 
threat of taking him prisoner, wrested from him all he pos- 
sessed. 

Thus the Portuguese rule was little calculated to gain the 
favour of the Indians. A few of the Viceroys acted in an 
honourable manner, and did their best to protect the natives 
from oppression, and procure justice for them ; but these were 
only exceptions, and, as a rule, the Indian peasant or citizen 
was utterly defenceless against the tyranny of his Portuguese 
neighbours, who considered it the lawful right of the conqueror 
to satisfy all his desires at the expense of the subject race. 

Religion also gave an edge to the ill-feeling between the 
two "nations. Except a small number of Thomas Christians, 
the Indians were all either believers in Mahometanism or 
Brahminism. From the beginning the former stood in an 
.attitude of hostility to the Christian conquerors, and repaid -in 
full measure the fanatic intolerance which the Portuguese felt 
towards them. The latter suffered from their misguided 
missionary zeal, a zeal which did not shrink from violence, 
and which evidently tended to the political subjugation of the 
people. 



l^he Portuguese Rule in India and its Decline. 143 

Especially calculated to embitter the Indians against them 
was the desecration and destruction of the ancient temples. 
The Archbishop of Goa, for instance, carried on the forced 
conversion of the people of Salsette in such a manner that in 
1564 he had all the temples of the island, 200 in number, 
and most of them ancient places of worship, broken into by 
his troops and turned into the ruins which still excite the admi- 
ration of numberless visitors. 

Very often it was not religious zeal at all, but mere greed, 
which led to these attacks upon the temples ; for in long ages 
immense treasures had been Reaped up in these sacred places 
by the presents of pious pilgrims. Thus in 1544 the Viceroy 
Alfonso de Sousa received a command from John III. of 
Portugal, to take possession of the pagoda of Tremel, and 
place its treasures in the royal chests. Nobody even hesi- 
tated because the pagoda was in the land of the Sultan of 
Narsinga, a Prince who was an ally of the Portuguese ; and 
-when a storm dispersed the fleet, on board of which was the 
Viceroy himself, he was still unwilling to return without having 
.-at any rate in some measure fulfilled the royal commands, 
■ So he and his men fell upon the pagoda of Tebilicare and 
- plundered it instead. On their return the robbers were 
; ^attacked by troops of irritated natives in a narrow pass. It 
was not until they had suffered the loss of thirty men killed 
and 150 wounded, among whom was the Viceroy, that they 
succeeded in reaching the ships with their booty. 

The Viceroys during their term of ofhce occupied a princely 
position. In warlike affairs, in matters of administration and 
. of justice, they were absolute masters. In the most important 
towns royal palaces were built for them, and their emoluments 
were great. Their most important privilege was, that during 
their term of office no court could receive a complaint against 
,, them. 

Yet the position of the Viceroys was not so influential and 



144 ^ Century of Discovery. 

independent as appears at first sight. They were often obliged 
to carry out measures of which they did not approve, but which 
had been settled in the royal cabinet in Lisbon. Their Portu- 
guese officers and subordinates were constantly guilty of dis- 
obedience. Even an Albuquerque considered it advisable, 
before any great undertaking, to take counsel with his higher 
officers and hidalgos, and to have minutes taken of the meet- 
ing, so that he might be provided against accusations in the 
case of disaster. 

In later times the rancorous disputes between two rival 
candidates for the Viceroyalty contributed not a little to 
undermine the authority of the Viceroy. As instances, we 
may cite the cases of Vaz de Sampayo and Pedro Mas- 
carenhas in 1526, or that of Moritz Bareto, who supplanted 
Antonio de Maronha in 1573. 

The Portuguese nobility required from the Viceroy special 
respect, and if they thought themselves injured^ immediately 
brought their grievances and calummies to the King, whose 
ear was usually open to them. The officials shamelessly de- 
frauded the treasury. They sold too, at a high price, wares 
which they had extorted from the Indians ; and when out of 
sight of their superiors, took a most shameful advantage of 
their offxcial position. Thus it happened at last, incredible as 
it may appear, that in the year 1570 the rich Portuguese pos- 
sessions in India did not produce a sufficient revenue to pay 
the expenses of the government. 

If, in the interests of the royal treasury or of the Indians, 
an attempt was made to restrain the robberies and oppres- 
sions of the Portuguese officials, not seldom they broke out 
in open rebellion, and the state itself often suffered serious 
damage. A royal decree had declared the trade in cloves 
with the Moluccas to be a privilege of the crown, but the 
Portuguese on the islands, with the governors, Vincenzio da 
Fonseca and Tristam de Tayde, at their head, formed a con- 



The Porhtguese Rtile in htdia and its Decline. 145 

spiracy to oppose both secret and open resistance to this 
measure, in order to retain the profitable trade in their own 
hands, and Antonio Galvao was the first who succeeded in 
enforcing obedience to the King's command. The Viceroy 
himself was frequently constrained to make sacrifices from 
his own income. Money came in irregularly. Nothing could 
be obtained from Portugal, unexpected dangers produced un- 
foreseen expenses ; the Viceroy must pay out of his own purse, 
or if he wished to persuade the Portuguese who lived in India 
to make a sacrifice, he must set them an example. It was 
common to procure loans from the town of Goa, but often 
this could only be accomplished by the Viceroy himself be- 
coming security. And when the term of this laborious and 
ungrateful office had expired, even the well-deserving Governor 
would see himself put on one side as useless, while his suc- 
cessor, to whose rising sun even those whom he had over- 
whelmed with favours paid homage, overthrew all he had 
done, and most usually adopted a policy entirely opposed to 
his own. He might think himself happy if at the close of 
his office there did not arrive a royal order to arrest him and 
bring him to trial on charges laid against him by his 
enemies and calumniators in Lisbon. 

Besides, it was the custom to throw into prison at Lisbor 
returning Viceroys, and only to release them on the payment 
of a large sum, they being looked upon as sponges who had 
filled themselves in India, and must be squeezed in Portugal. 
The heart of many a deserving man was broken by such un- 
grateful and ungracious treatment from the Princes in whose 
service they had borne so many troubles and deprivations. 

The gallantry of the Portuguese, which they manifested 
from the first in the Indian waters, and the heroic fearlessness 
which caused them to begin and carry through successfully a 
struggle against such odds, must not make us blind to the 
hateful characteristics which made themselves more evident 

10 



1 46 A Century of Discovery. 

year by year. The riches of India developed in them an un- 
bridled luxury, and allured them to the most dissolute course 
of life. Their own historians accuse them of hatred of work, 
godlessness, cruelty, and faithlessness, and this reproach is 
supported by a long series of terrible examples. 

Georg Pock, the Nuremberg merchant, writing on January 
1st, 1522;, from Cochin to his countryman, Michael Behaim, 
draws an ugly picture of the Portuguese character. He 
writes of them plainly : " The Portuguese, who are born Por- 
tuguese, poison the air with their pride. Should one of them 
possess ten ducats, he must have a velvet coat, a silver dagger, 
polished boots, and a violin with which to steal about the 
streets at nights and serenade the ladies. The Moors see that 
one Portuguese never wishes well to another, but that they 
deceive one another and oppress the poor, so that the com- 
mon people fall into distress, and are forced to go to the Moors 
and make themselves Moors (that is, deny their faith. Moors 
here signifies Mohammedans). The officials never keep faith : 
they will give a Moor a letter when he is going to sea. The 
letter runs thus : ' Whoever reads this letter signed by me, let 
him give credit to the Moor and allow him to go where he will.' 
For such a letter he receives 200 ducats. Then, when the Moor 
goes to sea, the official sends after him, causes all the cargo to 
be seized and the ship sunk. In this manner they become rich. 
When the Moors see that the Portuguese never keep faith, 
they say that our religion cannot be a good one. You will find 
people who have lived here fifteen years, have never gone to 
confession, have 15,000 ducats in the land; but they never 
reflect on their ways, being fully occupied with the thought 
that possibly the Moors may murder them all." 

This description, given by a""man deserving credit, refers to 
the early times of Portuguese rule ; but the moral declension 
was rapid, and at the end of the century the Portuguese and 
their descendants in India 'appear an utterly corrupt race, 



The Porhiguese Rtile in India and its Decline, 147 

displaying, however, in danger and distress that imperishable 
inheritance of the nation, heroic courage and contempt of 
death. But all these evils — the hostility of the Indian 
princes and of the Indian people, bad government and ter- 
rible social depravity — would not have brought about the 
ruin of the Portuguese rule in India ; the cause of its fall came 
from Portugal itself The real reason of it was the change 
and degeneration of the national character. 

Incalculable wealth had been poured into the country. The 
chronicler Goes tells us that he had often seen merchants 
appear in the Indian market in Lisbon with sacks full of gold 
and silver to pay for the goods they had received, and that 
the officials were obliged to put them off to another day, be- 
cause the time did not suffice to count the money, the sums 
being so great that were received every day. 

These riches were employed in the pleasures of life and in 
.the gratification of ever-increasing desires. The allurements 
of easy gain enticed many from labour and created a nation 
of idlers and revellers, who were unwilling to make any sacri- 
fice for the greatness of their country. The impetus, there- 
fore, which had been given to the nation by the perseverance 
of Henry the Navigator, and by the great successes of 
Emanuel, under such circumstances soon began to abate. 
The strong young men who yearly set sail in thousands for 
the tropics returned either to their native land cripples or 
physically and mentally enfeebled, or they perished miserably 
in Asia. This yearly loss of men, which was increased in 
1578 by the disastrous battle at Alcassar in North Africa and 
the fall of King Sebastian with the flower of the Portuguese 
youth, necessarily exhausted so small a land. 

Emanuel's son and successor, John III., introduced the In- 
quisition into Portugal in 1536, and allowed the Jesuits to 
establish themselves in the country immediately after the 
order was founded. Very soon they had gained a firm foot- 

10 — 2 



148 A Century of Discovery. 

ing in all classes of society, and exercised a most injurious 
influence on the measures of the King and of his successors, 
who were all quite dependent on them. 

As was the case everywhere, they introduced into Portugal 
a bitter struggle against all freedom of thought and any ideal 
conception of life, and sought to substitute instead an external 
devoutness, thus destroying the whole counterpoise to moral 
aberration. 

Thus, the political catastrophe which overwhelmed Portugal 
came upon a people that even the bitter smart of national ruin 
could not shake out of its mental dulness and stupidity. In 
the year 1580 the Plouse of Burgundy became extinct, and, 
after a slight resistance, which was soon overcome, Philip II.. 
of Spain ascended the throne. Thus the union of Portugal 
with its more powerful neighbour — a union which it had so 
often successfully resisted — was at length effectually accom- 
plished. In India also Philip II. was proclaimed King, and 
he hoped the riches of the East would prove a mighty 
assistance in the struggle which he was carrying on against 
Protestantism and freedom of thought, and in the attempt 
that he was making to maintain absolute authority both in 
civil and ecclesiastical affairs, even at the expense of the vast 
progress made during the last century. 

Plow little he succeeded in attaining his object is well 
known, but Portugal had the most to suffer from his audacious 
undertaking. For the Dutch, to whom the Portuguese har- 
bours were closed after the union of Portugal with Spain, 
boldly sought the wares that they needed in India itself, and 
indeed soon made their land a general emporium of Indian 
produce. At first they avoided the Portuguese possessions, 
and restricted themselves to the remote and unimportant parts 
of the Indian Sea, but with time their courage grew. In 1603 
they bombarded Goa, and even before that time had expelled 
the Portuguese from the Moluccas, and had established them- 



The Porttcgziese Rule in India and its Decline. 149 

selves side by side with them in Ceylon, while in 1641 they 
took Malacca. 

Everywhere the Indians received them with open arms, and 
supported them in their struggles with the Portuguese. And 
when the latter at last succeeded in freeing themselves from the 
hated Spanish yoke, and in raising a native prince — the Duke 
of Braganza — to the throne, the Dutch did not agree to re- 
linquish their Indian possessions, but, on the contrary, took 
care to secure them in the Peace of Westphalia. 

Since that time the rule of Portugal in India has been 
limited to the towns of Diu, Daman, and Goa, to the eastern 
half of the Island of Timor, and to the town of Macao in 
China. 



PART II.— THE SPANIARDS. 
CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

The kingdom of Spain was formed by the union of the two- 
kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. This union was eventually 
brought about by the marriage at Valladolid, on the 19th of 
October, 1469, of Queen Isabella of Castile with the Crown 
Prince Ferdinand of Aragon. j^But the mutual jealousy of 
the kingdoms opposed a resolute resistance and for a long 
time prevented any blending of them into one ; and the first 
prince who really united the two crowns on his head was the 
grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella^ — Charles V. — who, in 
1 5 16, was proclaimed King of Castile and Aragon. He was 
at once the first and the mightiest Prince of the Spanish 
nation, which, under him, ruled the fate of Europe. This 
European Power at the same time gained an immense acces- 
sion of strength by the discovery and conquest of America, 
which not only poured an inexhaustible stream of wealth into 
the state cofi"ers, but also gave Spain a high and well-deserved 
importance as a naval power. 

All the conditions necessary to this rapid rise were to be 
found in the two states of which Spain was formed. To be 
sure, Aragon, and particularly Castile, were in the main inland 
states, and the only power of the people lay in the bold un- 
governable knights and the manly burghers of the great towns. 
But the inhabitants of Catalonia, which had been united with 



Introductory. 151 

Aragon since the thirteenth century, had from early times 
devoted themselves to trade, and were a seafaring nation. 
Here was the town of Barcelona, which, specially favoured by 
Aragon, and possessing a constitution which was almost re- 
publican, profited by its favourable situation and by the 
neighbourhood of the mighty forests, which produced wood 
well adapted for ship-building. 

In the kingdom of Castile too there was a promising be- 
ginning of a maritime power, which, however, could not 
develop itself in such a favourable manner as the Catalonian. 
Its north-western provinces, Galicia and Biscay, had in early 
time an important fishery in the Atlantic Ocean, and the fleet 
which, in 1247, they sent against Seville was powerful enough 
to defy the Moorish fleet, and to keep the town completely 
shut in on the side of the sea. But with the taking of Seville 
the Castilians first gained a harbour corresponding to their im- 
portance, and their commerce began to be of consequence. The 
Kings of Castile bestowed great care on their new possession, 
began the formation of great arsenals, and gave a hearty wel- 
come to any traders possessing nautical experience who chose 
to settle there. Many Genoese took advantage of this oppor- 
tunity, and erected great warehouses. It very soon became a 
lively commercial city, and possessed a large fleet, which was 
also useful to the Castilian King in his political undertakings. 
Thus it was employed with much success at the siege of Car- 
thagena and Algeciras, 1263 — ']'^ ; and the foundation of a 
military order for service on the sea must have been a mere 
whim and piece of kingly ostentation, as was also the appoint- 
ment of an Admiral of Castile. The ceaseless struggles with 
the Moorish states exercised the warlike powers of the young 
fleet, but they hindered it from taking a peaceful share in the 
great trading movement in the Mediterranean Sea, from which 
the Castilians were as good as excluded. 

Thus in Barcelona and Seville the conditions existed which. 



152 A Century of Discovery. 

under certain favourable circumstances, promised the develop- 
ment of considerable maritime power. And the favourable 
circumstances soon occurred ; the marriage of Ferdinand and 
Isabella bound the powers of the two kingdoms together, and 
thereby attained the object of struggles which had gone on 
for 500 years — ^the destruction of the Moorish Kingdom in 
the Spanish Peninsula, and the erection of a kingdom which 
had an important influence on the affairs of Europe. And 
happy fate led the man to Spain who poured incalculable 
riches into her lap, and opened a sphere in which all the 
powers of the nation could develop themselves and find oc- 
cupation. 



CHAPTER II. 

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

Ten places on the north coast of the Ligurian Bay have laid 
claim to the honour of having produced the great man who 
discovered the New World ; yet it is almost certain that he 
was a native of the great mercantile city of Genoa. The time of 
his birth is more doubtful. While some think he was born in 
1436, others decide for the year 1446 or 1456. If we follow 
the indications given by Columbus himself, we shall give the 
preference to the last date. For in the letter which he ad- 
dressed to King Ferdinand on the 7th of July, 1503, he says 
he was twenty-eight years old when he came to Castile, which 
certainly was in the year 1484. Also all the other indications 
given in his report agree with the supposition that he was 
born in the year 1456. The name of the family to which he 
belonged was Colon or Colombo. It was not noble ; for in 
his letter to Prince Juan's nurse he compares himself to King 
David^ whom God raised to high honour from the rank of a 
shepherd. Therefore the claims put forth by the ancient 
family of the Counts of Colombo, in Piacenza, to relationship 
with the celebrated discoverer are proved to be groundless. 

His family was of the burgher class, but not undistin- 
guished. In the letter already mentioned Columbus boasts 
that he was not the first admiral of his family, and claims as 
a relative a Colon el Mozo, of Cogoleto, who was Genoese 
admiral in the middle of the fifteenth century. The father of 
our hero was Dominico Colombo, an honest weaver in a suburb 



154 ^ Century of Discovery. 

of Genoa, who afterwards removed to Savona, and who was 
still alive shortly before the death of his great son. From his 
marriage with Susanna Fontanarossa sprang three sons — 
Christopher, Bartholomew, and Jacob — and a daughter, who 
married a tradesman. The family was well-to-do, and could 
give the promising boy a moderately good education, traces 
of which are evident in his later letters and reports. Having 
chosen a seaman's life as his calling, he was sent at a very 
early age to the high school of Pavia, where at that time 
famous scholars taught mathematics, astronomy, and geo- 
graphy. How long he remained under their instruction is 
uncertain ; but at fourteen he went to sea, and on the Genoese 
merchant-ships in the Mediterranean became a skilful sailor. 
Most of the harbours of that sea were known to him, and we 
learn from his own mouth that he visited the island of Chios,, 
and had there watched the collecting of mastic (resin from the 
pistacia lentiscus). In the course of these voyages, among 
other places, he visited Portugal apparently about I475- 

There he became acquainted with Dona Felipa Perestrello, 
the daughter of Bartholomew Perestrello, an excellent seaman, 
who had been many times employed by Prince Henry. He 
very shortly married, but his young bride brought him no 
dowry. Perestrello himself Avas already dead when Columbus 
first came to Portugal, and his possessions on the island of 
Porto Santo, which his grandfather had discovered, were, it 
appears, quite lost to the family, except one estate in which 
Columbus spent some time as the guest of his mother-in-law. 
The happy union only lasted a short time, being put an end 
to by the death of the wife, apparently at the birth of a son, 
who was christened Diego. It was not difficult for so clever 
and striving a seaman to gain his livelihood at that time in 
Portugal. Columbus drew maps, prepared mathematical 
works, and, first as pilot and afterwards as captain, entered 
the service of the great merchant houses. 



Christopher Columbus. 155 

In this position he found opportunities to become ac- 
quainted with the whole of the Atlantic Ocean, as far as it 
was then known. In his last writings, " The Prophecies," he 
declares, with justice, " Every part of the ocean which has yet 
been sailed through, I have sailed through." Of the voyages 
which he then made we have accounts of two, and they are 
particularly interesting. In one he visited England, and from. 
Bristol, which at that time was a place of considerable trade,, 
he went to Iceland, and even proceeded more than 100 Spanish 
miles beyond it. This voyage took place in the year 1477, 
and led him to the borders of that continent which he after- 
wards discovered. Some years later (1483) we find him on 
the Gold Coast of Africa, in the recently-built fortress of San 
Jorge de Mina. Such extensive voyages in such opposite direc- 
tions must have given him, in addition to the extraordinary 
gifts of observation that he possessed, a rich treasure of 
experience and knowledge, which he increased by diligent 
study. 

The writings and diaries of his late father-in-law had a great 
influence on the direction of his mental activity. At that time 
— that is, between the years 1478 and 1484 — the conviction- 
became firmly fixed in his mind that the east coast of Asia^ 
could be reached from the west coast of Europe, and that this 
way to India was much to be preferred, on account of its- 
shortness and convenience, to the other, which the navigators 
of Portugal were then striving to find. This idea Columbus 
was not the first to put forth, just as he was not the first 
European who trod the soil of America ; but the enthusiasm 
with which he defended the idea and proved it to be practi- 
cable, the perseverance with which he devoted his whole life to- 
it, combined with the deep obscurity which rests on all the 
earlier visitors of America, secure to him for all time the fame 
of being the discoverer of the New World, and make his name, 
one of the most glorious in the history of the world. 



156 A Century of Discovery. 

About 500 years before Columbus bold sailors had landed 
on the shores of the New World. They were Normans ; some 
of those wild sea-robbers who from the ninth century were 
the terror of all the coasts of France and Germany. From the 
deep fiords of Norway, on the shores of which their wooden 
dwellings stood, the ships of the Vikings every year poured 
out in hundreds and assembled in fleets, over which the bravest 
and most distinguished had the command under the title of 
Sea Kings. Woe to the coast which they pitched upon for 
attack. Mercilessly were the most fruitful regions turned 
into utter wastes, and there was no obstacle at which they 
did not mock, no enemy that could withstand them. The 
struggle with the most unheard-of dangers they looked upon 
as a mere pastime and a manly enjoyment of life, and these 
mighty giants in their little fragile barks, which were without 
decks, and, at the most, only possessed the protection of a 
tent, ventured out into the unknown ocean, trusting only to 
their unflinching powers of endurance and the sharpness of 
their wits. From the Faroe Islands they had, at the end of 
the ninth century, discovered and colonised Iceland. The 
■civil order which had at that time been established in Norway, 
from its union under one government by the conquests of 
Harald Harfagar, impelled the wildest and most untamed of 
the Normans to emigrate to that distant island, the Thule of 
the ancient Greeks and Romans, where they preserved their 
national characteristics and religion for many centuries, un- 
affected by foreign influence. 

From this island, in the year 982, Eric the Red, who on 
account of his many deeds of violence was obliged to leave 
his native land, sailed directly to the west, where he suspected 
there was land, and found, after a few days, a coast which ran 
north and south, and on whose rocky mountains he observed 
enormous glaciers stretching even into the sea. It was the 
east coast of Greenland. He followed it to its most southernly 



Christopher Colu^nbiLs. 157 

point, Cape Farewell, and found on the other side of that 
cape deep fiords and a number of little islands which reminded 
him of the home he had left. He settled there, and the 
charming descriptions of the delightful climate of the land 
which reached Iceland soon drew crowds of Norman colonists 
to it. The west coast far up to the north was speedily covered 
with settlements. As early as the year 999 as many as 190 
dwellings might have been counted, and when Christianity 
was introduced it became the seat of a bishopric and of several 
convents. But from the middle of the fourteenth century all 
knowledge of the colony in the distant Greenland disappeared. 
In some way, which has never been explained, it was forsaken 
or died out, and since the coast was taken by the Danes in 
1727 — though many monuments of the earlier people, such 
as ruined walls, gravestones. Runic inscriptions have been 
found — no indication of the fate of the people has been dis- 
covered. 

Greenland is only part of the Archipelago lying near the 
American coast, but the mainland itself was apparently dis- 
covered by the bold Normans. As early as the year 986 
Bjarni, sailing from Iceland to Greenland to seek his father, 
who had gone thither, was driven by stress of weather towards 
the south, and saw coasts, the description of which answers to 
those of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. 

Hearing of this, Leif, the eldest son of Eric the Red, went 
thither and passed a whole winter in a beautiful woody and 
grassy land, which, on account of the wild grapes growing, 
received the name of Winland. With tolerable certainty this 
has been identified with the coast of Rhode Island, one of the 
most northerly states of the Union. Leif s brother, Thorwald, 
went even farther south, and perished in a struggle with the 
aborigines ; his grave may be seen in what is now the State 
of Massachusetts. After an attempt on the part of another 
member of the family to establish a settlement in Winland, 



i-^S A Centtuy of Discovery. 

which was completely frustrated by the hostile conduct of the 
savages, all further attempts at discovery appear to have been 
given up. 

The fabulous account of the voyage of an Icelandic mer- 
chant, Gudleif Gudlangson, who, in 1027, having been driven 
from his course by a violent storm, reached a distant shore, 
.and there found a missing countryman in high honour among 
the natives, deserves small credit. About the same amount 
is due to the discovery of the shores called Hoitramannaland 
(the land of the white men), which some people have imagined 
to be Georgia and Florida. 

The news of this discovery of a new world by Iceland and 
Greenland Normans only reached the civilised states of Europe 
in a very confused manner. But in Iceland it remained an 
old tale of the highest interest, and, much altered and improved 
by passing from mouth to mouth, was finally written down. 

Among the learned the possibility of reaching the east 
coast of Asia from the west coast of Europe, by sailing directly 
west, had been many times mooted. The conviction of the 
spherical form of the earth was at this time universally spread, 
and the question only remained whether the space of water 
between the two continents was not too great to allow of a 
passage. The necessity of being prepared with provisions 
and water for the journey both ways made it a more serious 
matter. Happily a mistake was made about the distance 
between the continents, the circumference of the earth being 
.calculated about a fifth (more exactly -19) less than it 
really is. 

In the works of the French savant, Pierre dAilly, which 
appeared in 1480, and were accessible to Columbus, there is a 
certain passage in which are collected together all the expres- 
sions of Aristotle, Seneca, Strabo, and other learned men, 
tending to make the distance betvv^een Spain and the coast of 
Asia appear smaller. Still greater was the authority of Paulo 



^ 



Christopher Columhits. 159 

Toscanelli, the famous cosmographer of Florence, 1397 — 1482, 
who supported this opinion. Writing in answer to a question 
proposed to him by an ecclesiastic, Fernando Martinez^ in the 
■name of the King, Alfonso I. of Portugal, the Florentine 
astronomer, in a letter dated June 25, 1474, accompanied by 
a chart, thus expresses his emphatic opinion : " From the 
town of Lisbon westward you may count twenty-six distances 
of 250 miles each to the large and noble city of Cathay (the 
capital of China at that time)." This distance is about a 
third of the earth's circumference. He estimated the distance 
between the two towns to be about '120 degrees, though in 
reality it is nearly as much again. It was known also from 
Marco Polo's journey that about 10 degrees from the main- 
land of Asia lay the islands of Cipango (Japan), and thus the 
space left to be traversed became comparatively small, and 
the voyage no longer appeared impracticable. They expected, 
therefore, to find the coast of Japan in the meridian of San 
Francisco, in California. The space which still remained con- 
siderably lost its terrors by the supposed existence of the 
traditional islands of Antigua and St. Brandon's Land, the 

'first of which, according to Toscanelli, should lie about 50 

-degrees west of Lisbon. 

His residence in Portugal, and his intercourse with the most 
renowned astronomers and sailors in the land, made Columbus 
acquainted with these opinions, and the active mind of the 
young man seized with ardour on the great idea, the accom- 
plishment of which promised him a good position and undying 
fame. He set himself to collect carefully all evidence which 
seemed to prove the existence of land to the west. On the 

-shores of Madeira and Porto Santo and the Azores there had 
often been washed up from the west by the waves foreign 
trees, pieces of carved wood, according to some reports, even 
the dead bodies of an unknown race of men. Sailors driven 
to the west had frequently picked up these strange things ; 



1 6o A Century of Discovery. 

there were even stories of land having been seen in the 
distance. 

That Columbus received his first impulse to discovery on 
his visit to Iceland, from hearing of the Norman voyages to 
Winland, is certainly erroneous, for the news of the proximity 
of such large tracts of land would have entirely altered his 
views respecting the distance of the Asiatic coast, which he 
aimed at reaching. More likely the great thought first came 
to him after this journey, which he took in 1477 ; it was after 
his return from Iceland that he became intimate with the 
family of Perestrello (to whose papers and journals he had 
access), and was introduced into the circle of the most illus- 
trious seamen. So it probably was not until 1479 that he 
addressed to Toscanelli a letter, in which he says, that having 
heard of the astronomer's opinions^ he wished for his counsel,, 
since he had determined to make the great venture. The 
complaisant Florentine answered readily, sending at the same 
time a copy of his former letter with the chart. Columbus's 
hopes were raised to certainty. "You will see," so the letter 
ran, " that the journey you are intending to undertake is much 
less difficult than is supposed." Thus encouraged and with 
his convictions strengthened, Columbus sought for an audience 
with King John II., who had zealously furthered the Portu- 
guese discoveries. It was granted him, and he tried to gain 
the interest and active support of the King by a lively and 
distinct explanation of his plan. 

But then began the long series of disappointments to which 
the great man was destined. The King hesitated to carry 
into execution such a costly and expensive plan, broached by 
a still unknown sailor, and referred him to the nautical com- 
mission, which was at that time engaged in adapting the 
astrolabe to sea voyages. After a long careful examination, 
Martin Behaim, who during his residence in the Azores had 
himself become well acquainted with the strange objects 



Christopher CohmibiLs. i6i 

drifted up, pronounced in favour of attempting the bold expe- 
dition to the west, but the other members of the commission, 
the two Hebrew physicians and the Bishop of Ceuta, con- 
sidered that many of the premises were unfounded, and the 
conclusions drawn from them uncertain. They could not 
therefore advise the King to spend large sums on an under- 
taking of such doubtful result, while it appeared that, perse- 
vering in the African discovei-ies already begun, they might 
hope to reach India very speedily. Perhaps the exorbitant 
demands of Columbus, which afterwards endangered his scheme 
in Spain, may have been one cause of his want of success. 
However it was, he failed to obtain a favourable answer from 
the King. The story that King John dishonestly sent out a 
Portuguese to make the attempt, and did not give an absolute 
refusal to the Genoese until the attempt had failed, cannot be 
proved, and contradicts the known character of the King. The 
truth probably is that the King balanced the certainty of 
sailing round Africa against the uncertainty of a voyage to 
the west. 

Much mortified, and still thoroughly convinced of the future 
success of his plan, Columbus resolved to turn his back on 
Portugal, and to make to other states who could better appre- 
ciate the grandeur of his conceptions the great offer which 
that country had so short-sightedly refused. While his brother 
Bartholomew, who had followed him to Portugal, remained in 
Lisbon, and perhaps accompanied the expedition of Bartho- 
lomew Dias in the year 1487, Columbus in 1484 secretly 
escaped over the border, for the Portuguese, who jealously 
concealed their African discoveries from strangers' eyes, would 
certainly have prevented the departure of one so well ac- 
quainted with them. 

The story goes that he then proceeded to his native city 
Genoa, passing on to Venice, in which places his plans suffered 
a double rejection. But no proofs can be produced of his 

II 



1 62 A Century of Discovery. 

residence in either town, and there is an entire absence of 
records, which could scarcely be the case had he negotiated 
with the authorities of those cities. Apparently he went 
straight from Portugal to Spain, where he first applied to the 
Duke of Medina Sidonia, one of the mighty vassals of Castile, 
lord of great possessions in Andalusia and master of a not 
inconsiderable naval force. Won over to the stranger's plan, 
the Duke had already prepared ships to be placed at his dis- 
posal, when he changed his mind, considering that such a 
great undertaking with all its possible consequences was not 
an affair for a private man, but rather for a great state. He 
therefore sent Columbus with letters of recommendation to 
Queen Isabella, and on January 20th, i486, he was taken into 
her service. The learned men of the University of Salamanca 
were formed into a commission, before which Columbus laid 
his plans, together with the letter of the famous author which 
supported his ideas. But except the Dominican, Diego de 
Deza, who became afterwards Archbishop of Seville, and re- 
mained to the end a faithful patron of Columbus, none of these 
learned men were convinced by the arguments of Columbus, 
In recent times this commission has been on this account 
treated with the utmost scorn. The charge has been brought 
against it of opposing to the deep thoughts of the Genoese 
texts of Scripture, and of treating the whole affair in a highly 
unscientific manner. But this was not the case, and we are 
bound in justice to acknowledge that the arguments of Co- 
lumbus might very easily have been answered out of the very 
books from which he drew them. The opponents of Columbus 
were fighting on the side of truth, the Genoese was only con- 
tending for a happy delusion, which ended in the discovery of 
the New World. A result which he had not reckoned upon 
put him in the right, and those who are easily dazzled by 
success have thought to glorify the deed by heaping con- 
tempt on those who with justice opposed him. 



Christopher CohanbiLS. 165 

The decision of the commission is not known, but the fact 
that the undertaking was not carried out does not prove its 
rejection. The final struggle with the Moors of Granada 
already begun, fears lest Portugal might be irritated, perhaps 
even provoked to war, were important weights in the scale. 
Columbus remained in the service of Castile and took up his 
abode in Cordova, where his small salary and the money he 
procured by making charts, etc., secured to him a tolerable 
livelihood. Under these circumstances he determined to wait 
for happier times, and in the meanwhile secured many lasting 
friends among influential persons of the court of Ferdinand 
and Isabella. But this delay became at length unendurable ; 
the Moorish war long remained undecided, and his bitter ex- 
perience as suitor to haughty patrons appeared humiliating to 
his over-sensitive nature. 

After a residence of five years, he left Cordova in 1491, with 
his son Diego, who was then about twelve years old, to try 
his luck at the court of France, where a young and adven- 
turous monarch was holding the reins of government. But 
he had now reached the crisis of his fate. The traveller 
knocked at the gate of a Franciscan convent, La Ribida, at 
the port of Palos, and begged for refreshment for himself and 
his boy. The Guardian, Juan Peres de Marchena, a brother 
much looked up to, who bore the honourable title of Confessor 
to the Queen, took an interest in the gifted man, who related 
to him his plans and their disappointment in vivid colours. 
The Guardian's heart was soon entirely won, and he invited 
him to remain, and promised to use all his influence on his 
behalf. 

A letter which he immediately despatched to the Queen 
shortly received a very kind answer, in which Columbus was 
summoned to appear at the court, which was then in the 
camp of Santa Fe before the walls of Granada. A small 
sum was also remitted to defray the expenses of the journey. 

II — 2 



T 64 A Cenhcry of Discovery. 

With warm thanks he took leave of his new friend, leaving" 
little Diego in his care, and hopefully began his journey. 

He entered the court at a happy moment (Dec, 1491), just 
when Granada had made offers to surrender, and the glorious 
end of the war which had raged for so many years appeared 
in sight. To the enthusiasm called forth by this great 
achievement no plan, however great or expensive, appeared 
impossible ; so Columbus met with a most friendly reception. 
Yet months went by. The entrance of the monarchs into 
the conquered town took place on the 2nd January, 1492, 
with extraordinary magnificence, and Columbus received no 
decided answer. 

The unheard-of demands of Columbus caused this delay. 
He required, in case of the discovery of a western route to 
India, a patent of nobility rendering the title of Don hereditary 
in his family. He also required that he should be made Ad- 
miral of the Atlantic Ocean, and should rank as high as the 
Admiral of Castile ; that the power and title of Viceroy over 
all the discovered countries should be conferred upon him ; 
with the right to name three men for all offices in those lands 
out of whom the Crown should choose ; that he should have 
the tenth of the revenues which should flow to the Crown 
from the lands to be discovered ; and, lastly, the right to an 
eighth share in all mercantile undertakings which the Crown 
might engage in in those lands. 

These demands met with decided opposition. King Fer- 
dinand and a great number of the most important people at 
court were irritated by the presumption of the Genoese. 
Who was Columbus, and what deeds had he to boast of, that 
he should thus dare to demand control over the most proved 
and deserving officials — men too who could point proudly to 
their old nobility .^ Where were the securities that the results 
of his undertaking would at all fulfil the hopes on which he 
founded his demands 1 How monstrous were these demands 



Christopher ColumbzLS. 165 

■when compared with the poor rewards bestowed in Portugal 
■on the most distinguished seamen for the greatest services ! 

The lands over which Columbus demanded the Viceroyalty, 
and of whose produce he demanded the tenth part, were not 
virgin shores with a wild population, but the imperial Japan 
and China, with millions of civilised and industrious in- 
habitants. All these important considerations were discussed ; 
but when something less was offered him, he immediately de- 
parted with wounded pride, and threatened to go to France 
or England, whence he had received promises. 

What wonderful faith in himself! What bold confidence 
that the benefits which would result to Spain from his work, 
must justify the great and really unheard-of demands which 
he made. And yet it would have been better if he had yielded, 
and had lowered his demands in those points particularly 
which caused the most offence — the claim upon the Vice- 
royalty and the tenth. A little earnest self-examination and 
a calm glance into the future must have made it clear to him 
that he was pushing himself into a position for which he could 
not be fit, and involving himself in embarrassments with the 
Crown which, as it was at that time the great object of the 
Crown to render vassals powerless, would be sure to be to his 
disadvantage. The exorbitancy of his demands bitterly 
avenged itself on him. 

He had hardly quitted the court, when his friends, who 
meanwhile had increased in numbers, interceded for him with 
great zeal. Among them Luis de Santangel, the Treasurer of 
Aragon, distinguished himself by his unwearied persistency. 
He dwelt particularly on the responsibility which they would 
incur if, in consequence of their parsimony, other lands should 
gain the advantages which were now offered to Spain, and 
added that even supposing the expedition did fail, it was 
quite worth while to undertake it, in order to be assured of 
the impracticability of any route to India in that direction. 



1 66 A Century of Discovery. 

The resolution of the Queen was somewhat shaken by these 
representations, and when Santangel went on to remind her 
that she was denying the knowledge of Christianity to count- 
less multitudes of heathen, he touched the right chord. The 
pious Queen, whose most earnest desire was the conversion of 
her Moorish and Jewish subjects, was won by this clever move; 
and she was filled with such zeal that she said she would 
pledge the crown jewels to procure the funds necessary for 
the execution of the undertaking. This offer, however, was 
not carried into execution, for Santangel, who firmly believed 
in Columbus, provided from his own estates the 5000 ducats 
which were required. 

Messengers announcing the unconditional granting of his 
demands recalled Columbus to Santa Fc. The treaty was 
concluded on the 17th of April; on the 30th of the same 
month Columbus received the dignities that he had de- 
manded, and immediately set out for Palos, a port between 
the mouths of Guadiana and Guadalquiver, whence the expe- 
dition was to start. 

He made use of this harbour because he was bound in the 
service of the crown within ten days to fit out two caravels. 
A third ship was also chartered, and in accordance with the 
treaty Columbus bore an eighth of the expense. Very useful 
to him was the celebrated maritime family of the Pinzons, out 
of which three brothers, Martin Alonso, Vincente Yanez, and 
Francisco Martin, offered to accompany him. With their 
assistance the fitting out of the ships and the engaging of the 
crews were speedily accomplished, and all was ready for the 
start by the 3rd of August, 1492. 

The little squadron consisted of three ships : the Santa 
Maria, the Pmta, and the little Nina. All three, especially 
the Pinta, were very indifferent sailers ; and owing to the 
hasty manner in which they were prepared, were found ta 



Christopher Cohtmbtts. 167 

have many defects which could with difficulty be remedied on 
the high seas. 

The Santa Maria was commanded by Columbus himself, 
the Pinta and the Nina by the two eldest of the Pinzons. 
The crews numbered altogether ninety men, for the most part 
experienced seamen, who had pledged themselves to follow 
Columbus whithersoever he should go. Thus with no pomp, 
and but ill-prepared for the difficulties that might be ex- 
pected, Columbus set out to discover a new world. Of this 
voyage he kept a most comprehensive journal, which has been 
published, abridged by the Bishop Las Casas. It gives us an 
exact idea of it. 

Only a few days after the squadron started, the rudder of 
the Pinta broke, and it could not be repaired until they reached 
the Canaries. On the Island Gomera, which belongs to that 
group, and v/hich had already been taken and colonised by 
the Spaniards, Columbus remained for some months improving 
the vessels. He also took in provisions for a voyage of such 
uncertain length. The diary tells us that on the 12th of 
August a great eruption of the Pik de Teyde on Teneriffe 
took place, the first of which we know anything. On the 6th 
of September Columbus left the Island of Gomera, and took 
his course straight towards the west. 

Unconsciously he chose that part of the Atlantic Ocean in 
which it is the broadest ; but this misfortune was pretty well 
compensated for by the favouring wind which blew at first 
most unceasingly, the north-east trade wind. The passage 
therefore was a comparatively quick one, and only occupied 
thirty-four days. The temperature was very pleasant. Co- 
lumbus compares it to the climate of Andalusia, and only 
deplored that the song of the nightingale was wanting. 

On the 13th of September the compass was first noticed to 
decline towards the north-west, a circumstance which Columbus 
took care to explain in such a manner that the crew should 



1 68 A Cenhtry of Discovery. 

not be alarmed. The many stones of the terror of the sailors, 
and of their increasing bitterness against Columbus, which at 
last became open mutiny, are the inventions of later writers, 
for whom the course of the remarkable voyage was not suf- 
ficiently adventurous. But Columbus himself confesses that 
he kept a double reckoning, and thus strove to deceive the 
Crew as to the distance that they had come. But the decep- 
tion was nothing very considerable. 

On the 1 8th of September the difference between the two 
reckonings was only fifty miles. It must be remembered, 
however, that all calculations of the speed of vessels rested at 
that time upon conjectures which could lay no claim to cer- 
tainty, The only complaint which Columbus makes about the 
cowardice of his crews we find oh the 23rd September : " The 
sailors began to whisper, when they saw no considerable 
waves, that there would never be a wind to take them back 
to Spain." 

The monotony of the voyage was enlivened by frequent 
signs of land being near, though they were over and over 
again found to be deceptive. Thus on the 25th of September 
they thought they were near a vast land. Indeed, from the 
Pinta the crew declared they had seen land, and sang the 
" Gloria in excelsis." But the next morning they discovered 
that they had been deceived by the clouds. Also the nume- 
rous birds which were seen from the ships kept the sailors in 
constant excitement, for they erroneously thought they could 
not fly many miles from the shore. Columbus explained to 
himself all these appearances by the supposition that the 
ships had passed near the traditionary Island of Antiglia 
without seeing it ; but he would not stop to seek for it, since 
he wished first to find the mainland of Asia. 

The confusion into which the crews were constantly thrown 
by the repeatedly mistaken announcements of land induced 
Columbus to forbid such announcements to be made, except 



Christopher Colicmbus. 169 

on good grounds ; but at the same he promised, as the 
monarchs had desired, a pension of 10,000 maravedis to the 
man who should first discover land, and undertook to add at 
his own expense a silk doublet. 

Up to the 7th of October they had maintained a course 
directly west, but on that day Columbus yielded to the repre- 
sentations of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and steered W.S.W., 
-chiefly because great flights of birds — Pinzon thought they 
were parrots — had been seen flying in that direction. Had 
Columbus persevered in the original direction, he would about 
the next day have reached the northern islands of the Bahama 
group, and thence probably the mainland of America in the 
part now called Florida, whilst by changing his course he was 
■carried to the southern islands of that group, and past the 
south point of Florida to the West Indies. 

After this change of course the signs that land was near 
multiplied. Carved sticks and branches of trees, etc., were 
picked up ; and on all the ships hope and expectation swelled 
"high in every breast. On the nth of October, about ten 
o'clock, Columbus, who was looking out from the poop of his 
ship, perceived before him the uncertain glimmer of a light, 
which appeared again several times, and looked like a waver- 
ing torchlight. Others whom he called thought they saw it 
too, although the Admiral himself was very likely deceived. 
The excitement increased, no eye was closed. 

The Pinta, commanded by the ambitious Martin Alonso 
Pinzon, kept in front, and it was from her masthead that at 
two o'clock in the morning of the 12th of October, 1492, came 
the long-expected cry of " Land ahead !" It was a sailor 
named Rodrigo de Trianawho first perceived the coast in the 
uncertain twilight. He, however, never received the promised 
pension, Columbus claiming it for himself on the ground of 
the light he had seen ; Rodrigo in a rage left Spain, and 
passing over to Africa abjured his faith. This conduct of 



1 70 A Century of Discovery. 

Columbus, which certainly was not amiable, proceeded pro- 
bably less from mere greed than from the anxious desire to 
prove that the discovery of Asia from the west was entirely 
his work, even in the minutest details. 

They gazed impatiently into the dim light, until the 
rising sun dispelled all doubt. At a little distance was- 
stretched out a flat coast, over which rose green hills. The 
goal was reached, the difficult and dangerous undertaking was- 
accomplished. But where were they .-* According to Co- 
lumbus's secret calculations, the ships had traversed after 
leaving the Canaries, which lie io° west of Lisbon, 1122 
Spanish miles, or 90°. Now according to Toscanelli, the 
distance between Lisbon and Cipango (Japan) amounted at 
the most to 110°. So there could be no doubt that they had 
reached Cipango, or at least one of the group of islands lying 
near. 

As soon as the ships had found anchorage, Columbus 
entered an armed boat and landed on the coast, accompanied 
by the eldest of the brothers Pinzon. Then in the presence 
of notaries with great formality he took possession of the 
land for the Queen of Castile. He set up a wooden cross,, 
and named the island — for such the land proved to be — San 
Salvador. It was called by the natives Guanahani. It has 
no mountains, but is beautifully wooded, with a lake near the 
centre. It is one of the Bahama or Lucayan group, which lies 
something in the form of a crab off the coast of Florida to the 
south-east. There has recently been a violent dispute as to- 
which island was first trodden by Columbus, and it has been 
settled in favour of Watling Island (latitude 23° 56' north, 
and longitude 74° 28' west). To the error of Columbus, who 
thought he had arrived on the coast of Asia, is due the name 
of West Indies, which he gave to all the islands he discovered 
in the course of years, as also that of Indians, which was con- 
ferred on the natives of America. 



Christophei" Columbus. 171 

The natives looked upon the Spaniards as descended from 
the sun, and came to meet them with the greatest reverence ; 
their confidence was secured by little gifts, glass beads, little 
bells, etc., and they showed themselves thoroughly harmless 
and friendly. The simplicity and poverty of their condition 
excited the astonishment of the Spaniards. They went 
perfectly naked ; they were well proportioned, and of a brown 
complexion, which Columbus compared to that of theGuanches, 
and which they themselves sought to beautify by the use of 
bright paint. Their dwellings were simple reed huts roofed 
with palm leaves. Their food was principally vegetables, 
maize, manioc, yams, and potatoes, but they ate also fish, 
mussels, and the flesh of birds. 

In fishing they made use of a little hsli called by the 
Spaniards reverso, whose back was armed with thorns. 
Fastened to a thin but strong line, the Indians took it to the 
sea, and as soon as a large fish showed itself let it loose. It 
at once rushed upon its prey and fastened itself firmly to it 
by its prickles ; the tortured fish made for the shore, and 
there was easily caught by means of a rod which was attached 
to the end of the line. The tools of which the Indians made 
use were very rough ; they were unacquainted with iron, and 
employed instead sharpened stones and mussel shells. They 
so little understood other weapons that they took hold of 
Columbus's sword by the blade and wounded themselves. 
Since many of them had fresh wounds the Spaniards inquired 
the cause and learnt that they had gained them in struggles 
with neighbouring warlike races, who often visited these shores 
for kidnapping purposes. This was the first news which the 
Spaniards received of the more highly-organised but fiercer 
people of the Carribee Islands, with whom, in later times, 
they had such serious struggles. But Columbus considered 
them to be inhabitants of China. " I thought," he said, " and 
I still think that people come over here from the mainland tO' 



T 7 2 A Century of Discovery. 

make prisoners and slaves. They must be most faithful and 
docile servants. I am convinced that they would be converted 
to Christianity without any difficulty, for I believe that they 
belong to no heathen sect." 

But for the present Columbus gave up his plan of convert- 
ing the Indians, and of erecting a fortress on the island, as he 
was anxious to reach Cipango as soon as possible. By various 
accidental resemblances of names, he was strengthened in the 
delusion that he was near the coast of Asia. Thus he first 
mistook Cuba and afterwards the district of Cibao in Hayti 
for Cipango, and the name Caniba, by which the Carribeans 
called themselves, he thought pointed to their being the 
subjects of the Khan of Mongolia, whom their ruler sent out 
to kidnap slaves. 

Still labouring under this delusion he left Guanahani on 
the 14th of October, taking with him seven Indians to show 
liim the way from island to island. In his progress towards 
the south-west, he touched on a mass of small coral islands. 
Only on two of the larger ones, Santa Maria de la Concepcion 
(the present Rum Key) and Fernandina (the present Long 
Island), did he make any stay. These he took possession of 
for Castile. They, in every way, resembled Guanahani. 
The voyage was then continued towards the south-west, 
"for," he writes in his diary, on the 24th of October, 
" I am determined to visit Ouinsay, and to present your 
Royal liighncsscs' letter to the great Khan." 

On the 26th of October the squadron arrived at the north 
coast of Cuba, with the beauty of which Columbus \vas charmed. 
He seems never to weary of telling of the fragrance of the 
tropical woods, of the charming voices of the birds, of the 
glorious mountains, and of the tranquil pleasant harbours. 
In the intoxication of his discovery, he believed he saw 
mastic in the primeval forests, pearls in the clear sea, gold 
dust in the rivers, and in the most animated language he 



Christophei'' Columhis. 173 

praises the earthly paradise which he had won for Castile. 
The ships pursued their course along the north coast until 
they were about 60" west of Ferro. Here they made a halt, 
since Columbus was now convinced that Cuba was not 
Cipango, but part of the mainland. In order to examine it 
more closely, he sent two Spaniards, one of whom was a con- 
verted Jew, on an embassy into the interior, and gave them, 
as interpreter, an Indian, who had been captured in Guana- 
hani. If possible they were to penetrate into the chief city of 
the Khan, which they, misled by the ill-understood directions 
of the Indians, thought to be close to the coast. 

After three days the embassy returned. They had found, 
twelve miles inland, an encampment of the natives, consisting 
of fifty huts, containing a population of about 7 000 persons, by 
whom they had been received with great honour and curiosity; 
but about the great Khan and the lands in which gold and 
spices were to be found, they had been able to discover 
nothing. They mentioned, as a peculiar custom of the natives, 
that they carried about with them "a glowing coal and a 
certain herb, wrapped in a leaf like a cartridge, in order to 
light one end and suck in the smoke from the other. These 
cartridges they called tobacco." 

According to the acciount of a later writer, it was not the 
rolls of leaves that were so called, but the reed through which 
the smoke was sucked up. These reeds were of a peculiar 
form. While one end was intended to hold the glowing roll 
of leaves, the other end was divided into two little reeds, which 
the Indians placed in the nostrils, for they smoked with their 
noses, not their mouths. 

Undeceived by the report of the ambassadors, the Admiral 
determined to give up any further voyage towards the west. 
The new direction taken by the ships was decided by Colum- 
bus's wish to seek for the land of gold he believed to be near, 
and where, by finding larger treasures, he hoped to indemnify 



•I 74 A CentiLry of Discovery. 

himself for not having reached India. At Guanahani and on 
all the islands he had discovered since he had noticed that 
the Indians wore thin gold plates as ornaments in their noses. 
When asked where the gold came from, the Indians had 
pointed towards the south, and had said that a land lay there 
which they sometimes called Bohio and sometimes Babeque. 
There large quantities of this noble metal were to be found. 
The stories told by the Indians of this wonderful land aroused 
the covetousness of the Spaniards, and they took such a hold 
upon Columbus that he made the discovery of this land his 
cfoal. Thus even in the first discoveries of the New World 
was proved the justice of the saying, that the colonisation of 
America by the Spaniards and the progress of their discoveries 
was governed, as by a law of nature, by the presence or absence 
of gold. 

On the 1 2th of November Columbus set sail again. Sad 
to say, before his departure he had five young men, seven 
women, and three children captured to take to Spain with 
him, by which cruel action he inspired the confiding natives 
with the greatest terror and hatred. The next night a man 
came swimming up to the ship and begged him to take him 
with him since his wife and children were among those who 
were being carried away. Henceforth the shores of Cuba 
were deserted. Warned of the cruel stranger by messengers 
and fiery signals, the inhabitants had fled into the woods. 
The* squadron pursued its way along the north coast of Cuba 
to the east and south-east. So great was the Spaniards' 
greed for gold that Martin Alonzo Pinzon separated from the 
other two ships, in order to find the land of gold for himself 
and to secure the glory of its discovery. In vain were all the 
signals which Columbus made during the night of the 21-22 
November, the fugitive did not return. On the 5th of Decem- 
ber the Admiral reached the east point of Cuba, which he 
named Juana in honour of the Crown Princess, and at the 



Christopher Columbus. 175 

-same time there arose in the east a new land with high moun- 
-'tains which the Indians on board said to be Bohio. But the 
people of the island itself called it Quizqueia, that is to say 
the world, or Cibao (the stony), or Hayti (the rough land). 
The last name has rem.ained to this day and has outlived the 
Spanish name, Hispaniola (Little Spain), which Columbus 
gave it. 

On Hispaniola the Spaniards found a much higher develop- 
ment of social life than on the coast which they had hitherto 
touched. The whole island was divided into several king- 
doms, governed by hereditary princes called caciques. Of 
these kingdoms some were specially important on account of 
their extent and of the power of their caciques, such as, on 
the north coast, Marien and Maguana, and on the west and 
-south coasts, Xaraqua and Higuey. The power of the 
^caciques over their subjects was unlimited, they were the 
possessors of the land, and they adjudged the work and the 
-pay. All the little dainties of the island, the flesh of the rabbit 
.and the lizard, were reserved for their table, and the people 
- were kept at a distance from the sacred persons of the princes 
by a troublesomely precise etiquette. By the greater con- 
venience of their dwellings, and by some attempts at decora- 
,tion, the inhabitants of Hispaniola showed themselves superior 
to those of Cuba, though they evidently belonged to the same 
,race. But at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards these 
; gentle people were threatened with destruction by another 
stronger race. These were the Kalina, or Kaniba,* or Kari- 
.ben, that is heroes, as the natives of the Antilles called them, 
a people who originally dwelt on the south coast of South 
. America. They had already conquered a part of Hispaniola 
and Caonabo. The cacique of the kingdom was a Carribean 
adventurer. Tall and strongly made, they were superior in 

* From this word, in consequence of the imperfect pronunciation of 
the Spaniards, we have got our word cannibals, or men-eaters. 



1 76 A Century of Discovery. 

courage and warlike qualities to the natives of the Antilles, 
and were feared even by Spaniards. In war they were fre- 
quently accompanied by their wives, who were little inferior 
to the men in ferocity. Their most terrible weapon was a 
poisoned arrow. In their piroques, forty feet long and capable 
of holding fifty men, they went from island to island, and 
often in perfect fleets made plundering expeditions on to the 
coasts, where the inhabitants, if they were unable to escape 
by flight, were carried off prisoners. The men were cooked 
and eaten, the women made slaves. Against these fearful 
enemies the natives of the Antilles were defenceless, and 
there is no doubt that if it had not been for the arrival of the 
Spaniards they would in a short time have been destroyed by 
them. 

In his first expedition Columbus came but little into per- 
sonal contact with the Carribeans, and learned most about 
them from the descriptions of their victims, since he sailed only 
on the north coast of Hispaniola. Here the farther he ap- 
proached towards the east the more lively became the trade 
with the natives, who came in hundreds on to the ships, and 
exchanged provisions, cotton, and golden ornaments for all 
sorts of trifles. When they noticed the eagerness of the 
Spaniards for gold, they gave them to understand that in a 
land farther to the east, which they called Cibao, gold was 
found and smelted. This news still more inflamed Colunibus's 
desire to find this land of gold. " May the merciful God," he 
exclaimed, " help me to find this gold, or rather these mines." 
Then a groat misfortune befell him, and dashed all his hopes. 
On Christmas night, when all were asleep, even the Admiral 
himself, who had watched for two nights, the ship, owing to 
the helm having been committed, contrary to his express 
orders, to a sailor-boy, ran on a sand-bank. The Admiral was 
the first on deck, and by ordering an anchor to be cast from 
the stern, did all he could to prevent the complete destruction 



Christopher Cohtmbus. 177 

of the ship. But the crew, stupefied by the disaster, dis- 
obeyed his commands, sprang into the boat, and tried to 
escape on to the Nina, which was about half a mile off. 
There they were brought to reason, and returned to the Santa 
Maria, which by that time, however, it was hopeless to think 
of saving. 

Fortunately Columbus had for some days been carrying on 
friendly intercourse with the Cacique of the liaytian kingdom 
of Marien — Guanacanagari was his name — and on hearing of 
the disaster he showed the greatest sympathy, and ordered 
his subjects to give the Spaniards all the help possible in the 
saving of their goods. This was done in their most zealous and 
honourable manner; so that in a few days everything was 
saved. Between Columbus and the Cacique, a stately dignified 
man, who immediately hastened to the spot, visits and pre- 
sents were exchanged. 

The fear of the Caribs betrayed by Guacanagari was skil- 
fully made use of by Columbus to gain his consent to the 
building of a fortress, the garrison of which should keep the 
Caribs at a distance. The building had become necessary, 
because the Nina was too small to bear the crews and freight 
of two ships. In a few days the little fort was finished, con- 
sisting of some buildings and sheds made of reeds, and pro- 
tected by wooden palisades and a ditch. From the season 
when it was built, it was called Natividad, and forty men 
were appointed as a garrison, under the command of Diego 
de Arana from Cordova. They received instructions to con- 
tinue the profitable gold trade with the natives, and, if pos- 
sible, find the mine itself. A wise and friendly behaviour 
towards the Indians was also specially inculcated. In order 
to arouse a desirable dread of their arms, Columbus caused 
his archers to display their skill, and arranged sham fights, 
with repeated discharges of the cannons, which made a great 
impression. 

12 



178 A Ceniury of Discovery. 

He thought himself so secure of the result he desired that 
as early as the 4th of January, 1493, before the palisades were 
finished, he set sail in the Nina, after having promised to 
return at the very latest in a year. The cause of this sudden 
departure was the news, brought by the Indians, that another 
ship was engaged in the purchase of gold ornaments not far 
off. It could only be the Pinta, and Columbus was very 
anxious that it should return in his company, and should not 
arrive a little before him in Spain, which would considerably 
diminish his glory as a discoverer. 

On the 6th of January they met the fugitive, and Martin 
Alonzo Pinzon immediately came on board the Nina to ex- 
cuse himself and to represent the separation of the ships as 
unintentional. Columbus pretended to believe him, but was 
full of mistrust, and gave Pinzon fully to understand that he 
was under his control and must obey. The names which he 
had given to the promontories along the coast were imme- 
diately changed. From that time the relations between these 
men, who had been once so intimate, became hostile, and so 
continued until death separated them. The insubordination of 
the one and the somewhat petty jealousy of the other pre- 
vented any reconciliation. 

The Pinta had in the meantime visited some little groups 
of islands off the coast of Hispaniola, and carried on a profit- 
able barter, by which the Spaniard had become possessed of 
much gold, some pieces being as large as a man's fist. Pinzon 
himself, with twelve companions, had penetrated into the in- 
terior of Hispaniola, and had brought back news of an island 
rich in gold, called Yamaye (Jamaica), to the south of Cuba, 
and also of a coast lying to the west, easily attainable, whose 
inhabitants were always clothed. Columbus paid no attention 
to this important information, which evidently referred to 
Yucatan, or perhaps even Mexico, not only because it was 
brought him by Pinzon, but also because his first intention 



Christopher Columbus. 1 79 

to visit at any cost the Great Khan of China, and if possible 
to reach India, had long been given up. Hardly was he sure 
of having discovered a land of gold than all his bold plans 
took to flight, his enthusiasm for discovery cooled, and he 
thought of nothing else but carrying away the discovered 
treasure. 

The two ships set out together on the return voyage. They 
touched at many points on the coast of Hispaniola, and found 
the natives everywhere friendly and trustful. In some places 
they believed they saw gold in the sand of the rivers, but no- 
where did they make a stay of any length. At the east end of 
the islands they first met with the Caribs, who, as they at once 
perceived from their form and bearing, belonged to quite an- 
other stock. After a fight with them, in which the first blood 
-was shed and four Caribs were taken prisoner, the ships, on the 
17th of January, left the coast, and sailed north-east into the 
open sea. Until the 12th of February they allowed the ships 
to run before the wind, though the steersmen found it impos- 
sible to agree as to the longitude in which they were. But 
on that day a fearful storm arose, in which the frail ships were' 
in the greatest danger. It lasted for three days, and so utterly 
wearied the crews that every moment they believed death to 
be at hand. In this distress the pious Admiral proposed to 
seek the assistance of the Virgin and of the saints by vowing 
pilgrimages. As many beans as there were men on board 
were placed in a cap, among which one was marked by a 
cut. Each drew a bean, and whoever had the marked one 
was to make the promised pilgrimage. Three times the lot 
was drawn in this manner, and twice it fell upon the Admiral ; 
the third time it fell upon a sailor from Cadiz, but Columbus 
promised to pay the expenses of his pilgrimage. In addition 
to this the whole crew vowed, if they were saved, to make a 
pilgrimage in their shirts to one of the chapels consecrated 
to the Virgin, 

12 — 2 



i8o A Century of Discovery. 

When everything was thus done to procure the favour of 
Heaven, Columbus bethought himself how he might get the 
news of his discovery to Europe in case they were all lost. 
He wrote down a short account of his voyage with a state- 
ment of the lands discovered, and placing it sealed in an air- 
tight vessel, together with a note which begged the finder to 
take it to the Court of Castile, and promised him a reward of 
looo ducats for so doing, threw it into the sea. Fortunately 
this was unnecessary. The weather began to improve on 
February i6th, and the next day land was discovered, which 
proved to be one of the Azores — Santa Maria. 

But in the fearful storm the ships were separated, and the 
Pinta was still on the high sea, while the Nina had found a 
temporary resting-place. The crew returned thanks for their 
deliverance. For Columbus it was a special triumph, as it 
proved him to be correct when he reckoned that they 
would reach the Azores, if they held on in the course they 
had taken. Full of joy, he writes in his diary, " I have always 
purposely exaggerated the distance, in order to lead astray 
the pilots and sailors, and thus keep the key of the western 
navigation to myself I have succeeded so perfectly that 
now nobody can point out with accuracy the way back to 
India." 

The Nina was detained at Santa Maria until February 24th, 
partly from the need of rest after so much fatigue, and partly 
from the hostility of the Portuguese commander, Joas de Cas- 
tanheda. Half the crew was suddenly attacked by him. and 
taken prisoners, as, in fulfilment of their vow, they were tra- 
velling in their shirts to a lady chapel near the coast. How- 
ever, after some days, the good understanding was restored. 
What was the cause of the quarrel has never been clearly 
known. Whilst some believe that Castanheda was secretly 
commissioned by the Portuguese King, Joas H., to destroy 
Columbus, others with greater probability declare that he 



Christopher Columbus. 18 1 

suspected the Spanish ship of having come from Portuguese 
■Guinea, and that he suspended hostihties directly he was con- 
vinced of the groundlessness of his suspicions. Rested and 
refreshed, they began their journey home on February 24th, 
hoping in a few days to touch their native coast. 

But their trials were not over yet On March 3rd they 
.again encountered a storm, which excited the greatest alarm, 
and impelled the Admiral anew to solenm vows. The ship 
was in extreme peril, being driven by the storm with fearful 
force towards the Portuguese coast, and it required all the 
•skill of the Admiral and the utmost exertions of the crew 
before the Tagus was at last successfully entered. On the 
evening of March 4th the Nina came to anchor at the famous 
landing-place Restello, near Lisbon. The news of their arrival 
naturally excited great attention in the city, in which Colum- 
bus in earlier times had had many acquaintances. With the 
congratulations which their great success called forth was 
mixed much envy and jealousy at the good fortune which 
had fallen to their hated neighbours, and many complaints of 
the blindness of the King, who had rejected a man of such 
distinction. 

The Government was doubtful how to act. On March 5th 
Bartholomew Dias appeared on board the Nina, and sum- 
moned Columbus before a court of inquiry to justify himself 
for his secret departure, but was satisfied when Columbus 
produced the letter which nominated him Castilian Admiral. 
Then followed an invitation to the royal castle at Valparaiso, 
situated a short distance from Lisbon, and in which John IL 
was at that time residing. On the 9th of March Columbus 
went thither, accompanied by some of his companions, and 
he took with him, to amuse the King, the captured Indians 
and specimens of the plants and animals of Hispaniola. He 
met with a better reception than he expected. The King 
appeared interested in the detailed account which he gave 



1 82 A Century of Discovery. 

him, and succeeded admirably in mastering the vexation and 
jealousy by which he was consumed. He, however, let slip 
the words that he should lay claim to the newly-discovered 
lands in virtue of the grant made to Castile by the Pope, and 
of the treaty concluded between Portugal and Castile in the 
year 1479. But he nobly refused the offer of some courtiers 
to try and engage the hot-blooded Admiral in a dispute and 
stab him as if in haste, and thus remove out of the way the 
only man who understood how to find the way to the New 
World. Indeed, he honourably entertained the great dis- 
coverer, and when the latter took his leave on the nth of 
March dismissed him in the most gracious manner. Re-em- 
barked on board the Nina, Columbus hastened his departure 
and arrived at Palos on the 15 th of March. 

Here all hope had quite been given up that the long-looked- 
for fleet would ever be seen again. The joy therefore was 
all the greater ; indeed, it was little short of ecstasy when the 
adventurers themselves related the grand results of their ex- 
pedition, and described the wonders of the distant paradise- 
The very next day appeared the Pinta. It came from Bayonne 
in Galicia, at which place it had first touched the Portuguese 
shore, and from whence Pinzon had despatched a letter ta 
Ferdinand and Isabella, in order to communicate to them the 
happy news, and to beg an audience. 

But the monarchs, remembering their agreement with Co- 
lumbus, had directed him to go to Palos and there await 
the Admiral, in whose train he might appear at court. This 
ungracious answer broke the heart of the proud and self- 
conscious man, who could not bear to be in subjection to a' 
foreigner, whose superior he considered himself to be. An 
illness with which he had been attacked shortly before his 
landing quickly grew worse, and carried him off in a few days. 
But the Pinzons, whose support had been of such service to 
Columbus's undertaking, now withdrew ; and this may have 



Christopher ColiLmbus. i8 



o 



had a good deal to do with the rapid and most unfavourable 
change of public opinion concerning Columbus. 

A glorious triumph awaited the great discoverer on his 
arrival, and it was the greatest moment of his life. Those who 
previously had expressed a doubt as to the result of his plan, 
and, indeed, had laughed at the fanatic, now felt themselves 
bound to make up for their mistrust by their ostentatious 
applause ; and those who had always taken Columbus's part 
now proudly joined their friend, a part of whose glory they 
felt reflected upon themselves. 

After he, accompanied by his whole crew, had fulfilled the 
vow made during the late storm, he went to Seville, where 
he made his entrance on Palm Sunday, surrounded by a re- 
joicing crowd, who could not satisfy themselves with gazing 
at the curiosities he had brought with him. Here he awaited 
the answer of the monarchs to the report which he had des- 
patched to them immediately after landing at Palos. When 
it arrived he could read in the inscription what a gracious re- 
ception awaited him. It ran thus : " To Don Christopher 
Columbus, our Admiral on the Seas, and Viceroy and Gover- 
nor of the islands discovered in the Indies." The letter was 
full of most flattering congratulations^ and invited him to 
appear at the court, which was then residing at Barcelona, 
the second great harbour of Spain, 

He began the journey immediately, and arrived before 
Barcelona in the middle of April. His entrance into the city 
became a great triumphal procession, exceeding the boldest 
flights of his fancy. A glittering troop of horsemen met him 
before the town and preceded him as he entered ; then fol- 
lowed six Indians (the rest Columbus had left behind in 
Seville sick) ; then came noble pages carrying parrots, stufl'ed 
animals, and other curiosities, with open chests full of gold 
ornaments ; and lastly, Columbus on horseback in splendid 
attire, attended by the chief men of the two kingdoms. With 



184 A Century of Discovery. 

tlie festive pealing of the bells and the deafening shouts of 
the populace who crowded the streets, the procession reached 
the market-place, where, on a balcony erected for the occasion, 
the King and Queen awaited the Admiral. On his appearance 
King Ferdinand rose, and when Columbus knelt and kissed 
the hands of the royal pair the King raised him and invited 
him to be seated — the greatest honour a Spanish monarch 
can show a subject. 

Columbus had frequently in unconstrained intercourse with 
the Prince to relate his adventures, and he was often seen 
riding by the side of the King. A significant coat-of-arms 
was bestowed upon him. In the two upper fields were the 
castle of Castile and the lion of Leon, while below to the 
right was a sea full of islands, and to the left five anchors. 
The globe and cross on the helmet of the coat-of-arms, and 
the inscription, " Columbus found a new world for Castile and 
Leon," were apparently added later. And this brilliant 
reception by the Princes corresponded to the homage which 
the proud nobility and all classes of the people offered him. 
We may rejoice fervently that the Admiral was thus recom- 
pensed for his many years of disappointment and suffering, 
and we cannot grudge him the proud pleasure of seeing himself, 
though of lowly birth, raised to the highest honours. Still we 
cannot help anticipating a reaction after such extraordinary 
favour, and feel that at the latest it must ensue as soon as it 
was found out that the newly-discovered land was not India, 
the way to which might yet be found by the Portuguese. For 
all this immoderate rejoicing arose from the delusion that, if it 
Avas not actual!)' India that had been discovered, India could 
at any rate be very easily reached from the lands found by 
Columbus, and there was a most discreditable pleasure in the 
minds of the Spaniards at the thought of the disappointment 
of the hated Portuguese. 

The enthusiastic descriptions of Columbus of the riches of 




ENTRY OF COLUMBUS INTO BARCELONA. 



Christopher Columbus. 185 

the lands he had discovered aroused the whole people ; the 
sanguine man reckoned with the greatest confidence how 
many millions of gold the colonists he had left behind would 
have collected before his return, and drew such exaggerated 
.and enticing pictures of the ease with which treasures might 
be collected that a perfect gold fever took possession of the 
whole nation, and it was not without justice that a charge of 
deception was subsequently brought against him. 

The Government contemplated colonising in a great measure 
the discovered lands, and consented to all the projects formed 
hy the Admiral with that view, while they appointed Juan 
Rodriquez de Fonseca, afterwards Bishop of Badajoz, to 
superintend the necessary supplies and to conclude the con- 
tracts. 

As early as the 8th of May Columbus left Barcelona and 
betook himself to Andalusia, where all the preparations were 
carried forward with energy. Seventeen ships, including three 
large merchant-ships^ were made ready, on which embarked 
15,000 men, among whom were many farm labourers and 
soldiers. Among the adherents of Columbus were now many 
important personages, especially the great pilot Juan de la Cosa, 
and the heroic nobleman Alonso de Ojeda. A number of 
priests were to open the Christian mission among the Indians, 
All kinds of European animals, and among them horses, were 
shipped off for the new. colony, and every one prophesied a 
rapid prosperity. These important preparations delayed the 
departure of the fleet, and it was not until September 25th, 
1493, that it sailed from Cadiz, steering first for the Canary 
Islands, where the cargo of domestic animals was to be com- 
pleted. On the 13th of October they left the island of Ferro, 
and crossed the ocean without any adventures worthy of 
mention. 

The Admiral this time steered rather more to the south, in 
the hope of reaching more directly India itself Thus he 



1 86 A Century of Discovery. 

enjoyed the full benefit of the trade wind which brought him 
in sight of land after a prosperous voyage of twenty-one days. 
It was the Lesser Antilles, which stretch northward in a half 
circle from the mouth of Orinoco to the Greater Antilles. 
The first land, which was seen on Sunday the 3rd of November, 
was called Dominica. Without touching it, the ship turned 
towards the north, and the same day a flat island was dis- 
covered, which was named after the Admiral's ship, Maria: 
Galante. The next day there appeared a larger island with 
lofty mountains, which received the name of Guadaloupe, after 
a famous shrine in Spain. Columbus landed there. The 
inhabitants, Caribs, fled to the woods, but some women and 
children, who appeared to be prisoners taken by the Caribs 
in one of their raids, came to implore protection from the 
Spaniards. The latter examined the forsaken huts, and from 
their appearance concluded that the inhabitants belonged to 
a higher grade of civilisation than those of Hispaniola. But 
to their horror they found in most of the huts human flesh 
being prepared for eating. 

After a delay of some days, caused by some of their crew 
being lost in the woods, they left the island. Proceeding on 
their Avay they met a canoe, with eight men and women, and 
sent their boats out to seize it ; but the Caribs being over- 
taken offered a desperate resistance and wounded two 
Spaniards with their poisoned arrows. Even when their boat 
was sunk they continued to fight, swimming, and took refuge 
on a rock almost covered by the water, and from which, how- 
ever, they were dragged one by one and brought on board 
bound. Even then they were violent and resembled " Lybian 
lions caught in nets." They were well formed and had long 
thick hair and no beard. They cut off their front hair and 
painted circles round their eyes, which increased the wildness 
of their appearance. 

The voyage was continued in a north-westerly direction 



Christopher Coluinbtts. 187' 

through a number of httle islands, to which Columbus gave- 
the name of St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins. 
Then they came to a large island, now called Porto Rico. 
Though the coasts appeared attractive, Columbus could 
not be induced to make a stay there, as he was impelled for- 
ward by a lively anxiety for those left behind in Natividad. 
Porto Rico being passed, he soon reached the north coast 
of Hayti, along which he continued his journey with such' 
haste that on the 27th of November the squadron came to- 
anchor off the spot where eleven months before he had 
built the little fort. But his salute was not responded to. 
No boat put off from the shore, and a mysterious silence 
reigned. Then the presentiment of a great misfortune came 
over Columbus, a presentiment that he found only too true 
when he landed. The fort lay in ashes, and every here 
and there were the remains of the unhappy garrison. By 
degrees the mystery which enveloped their fate was cleared 
up, chiefly by the account of Guacanagari, who, detained 
by illness, could not come to visit the Admiral, but was 
visited by him. Shortly after the departure of Columbus, 
the Spaniards had given themselves up to all sorts of evil 
courses, had become disunited, and the greater part of them 
had been killed during a plundering expedition into the land 
of Maguana by the cacique of that country, the warlike 
Caonabo. This chief had then invaded the land of Marien, 
burnt the fort, destroying the little garrison, whose commander 
Arana, taking refuge in a boat, had been drowned with all 
his companions. Guacanagari himself, who related this un- 
happy story, represented himself as having been wounded 
in battle with Caonabo, and many of his subjects had fresh 
wounds, evidently made by Indian weapons. But the Spaniards 
did not trust the cacique, and accounted him guilty of their 
countrymen's death. Although this opinion was confirmed by 
the flight of their Indian prisoners, yet the Admiral could not 



i88 A CenhLvy of Discovery. 

persuade himself to bring to account this his first ally. 
But the ships soon left this gloomy spot, seeking more to the 
east a favourable place for the foundation of a new town. It 
rose rapidly, and under the name of Isabella became the 
first settlement of the Spaniards in the New World. But 
very soon the insidious nature of the climate showed itself, 
many of the colonists, including Columbus himself, being 
struck down with sickness. As soon as he was tolerably 
restored, he sent twelve of the ships home, to request new 
supplies of men, animals, and provisions. As he felt that 
these demands would excite surprise in Spain, where, 
from his former prophecies, they would look rather for the 
arrival of great riches, he renewed his glowing descriptions 
of the abundance of gold in the island, especially in the in- 
terior, where Ojeda had found earth containing gold. He 
suggested also that the expenses of the repeated expeditions 
might be covered by capturing and selling the Indians for 
slaves. " Your Highness," he writes, " should send out every 
year caravels with cattle, provisions, and implements for agri- 
culture at a moderate price. The expense might be repaid 
by sending back slaves, for which purpose the Caribs, once 
tamed, would answer better than the other races, on account 
of their strength, agility, and intelligence. With the help of 
the boats which I am building here, they may be captured in 
great numbers." 

After sending off the fleet, Columbus, on March I2th, 
.started for the interior, taking with him 400 men and a little 
troop of horsemen. He penetrated without difficulty to the 
-mountainous district of Cibao, meeting with a most friendly 
reception from the Indians, who were greatly astonished at 
the Spaniards' horses. The unmistakable abundance of gold 
suggested to the Admiral the idea of securing the possession 
of the country by building a fort. The work was begun im- 
.mediately, and was completed in a few days. It stood on a 



Christopher Columbus. 189 

height, protected by a river, and received the name of Saint 
Thomas. It was garrisoned with fifty-two men, under the 
command ,of the knight Pedro Margarite. Returning at the 
end of the month to Isabella, Columbus undertook several 
measures for the purpose of making the new colony inhabit- 
able. He cut down the forests, cleared the land, began to 
plant, and to build mills. He strained to the utmost the 
powers of all in this work, making no exceptions in favour of 
the nobles, and sparing only the sick, whose number the heat 
increased every day. Thus in a land where they had ex- 
pected to gather riches without any trouble, the emigrants 
saw themselves compelled to hard labour, for worse pay than 
they would have received in their own country. A dissatisfied 
rebellious spirit soon showed itself among them, to which, in 
isolated cases, Columbus opposed a relentless severity. Yet 
he thought his position sufficiently secure to allow him to 
resume his voyages of discovery. He appointed a council tO' 
manage the government during his absence, in which was 
the rancorous Benedictine monk Buil, and over which he 
nominated his youngest brother, the quiet kind-hearted Diego 
Columbus, president Then, on April 24th, 1494, he left the 
harbour of Isabella with three ships and turned towards the 
west. 

He soon reached the east point of Cuba, which he believed 
to be the most easterly point of the mainland. This time he 
sailed along the south coast of the island. He found it every- 
where well peopled, but when he inquired for the land of gold 
the natives so invariably pointed to the south that he resolved 
to go in that direction. After two days he came to land, the 
island of Jamaica. The inhabitants, who resembled those of 
Cuba and Hispaniola in appearance and manners, though 
more warlike in their disposition, swarmed round the ship in 
their canoes, which were ninety feet long, challenging the 
Spaniards to an encounter. It was not until they had had a 



1 90 A CentiLry of Discovery. 

"bloody lesson that they could he induced to carry on more 
peaceful intercourse. Even then Columbus could obtain no 
more certain knowledge about the wealth of the land, but was 
again directed to the south. He followed the north coast until 
he reached the western point of the land, which proved it to 
be an island, and then he returned to what he imagined to be 
the mainland, Cuba. But the navigation along the south 
•coast was extremely difficult. Legions of little islands con- 
tinually compelled the ship to keep close to the shore, and it 
was frequently endangered by sandbanks and reefs. Not the 
least sign appeared of any approach to the civilised states 
■of Asia, though a deceitful resemblance of names now and 
.again raised false hopes. 

On the I2th of June the patience of the Admiral was ex- 
hausted. In order to assure himself against future reproaches, 
he caused the assembled crews to take an oath, administered 
•by the royal notary, that in Cuba they had discovered the 
mainland, and not a mere island. If they should ever change 
this opinion the officers were to be punished by the loss of 
their tongues and a fine, and the common sailors by flogging. 
By this singular document Columbus sought to quiet the ac- 
cusations of his conscience, which told him how wrong it was 
to return yet to Hispaniola. The voyage had been continued 
along the south coast of Cuba as far as the Isla de Finos. If 
•Columbus had only persevered for three days longer, he would 
Jiave reached the west point of Cuba and would have proved 
it to be an island. ' Then news certainly would have reached 
him of Yucatan and Mexico, and he would probably have 
been the first to reach the populous highly-civilised states of 
that coast. The peculiarity of the culture possessed by their 
natives would have removed the delusion that he had reached 
the coast of Asia. From mere longing for Hispaniola Co- 
lumbus forfeited the accomplishment of his great task. 

On the return voyage they coasted along the hitherto un- 



Christopher Columbus. 191 

visited south shore of Hispaniola, and were intending to pass 
over to Porto Rico when the Admiral, who from fear of an ac- 
cident had not closed his eyes for thirty-two nights, suddenly 
fell ill. He lay in a deep lethargy without sight or hearing, 
and the doctor doubted whether he would ever recover. The 
ship was therefore turned round as quickly as possible, and 
they steered for Isabella, where they arrived September 29th, 
1494. That the sickness, which lasted five months, at length 
abated Columbus owed to the faithful care of his brothers, 
Diego and Bartholomew. The latter, himself an experienced 
seaman, had been negotiating for Columbus at the English 
court until the news reached him that the discovery of India 
had fallen to the share of the Castilian crown. Then he 
hastened to Spain, was well received by the court, raised to 
the rank of a noble, and at last sent to the New World, having 
under his command three ships. He arrived during the Ad- 
miral's absence in Cuba and Jamaica, but on the return of 
the latter he found many opportunities of assisting him, and in- 
deed, on account of his manly bearing and keen intelligence, 
soon became indispensable to him. 

Already there appeared the first traces of those troubles 
which soon rendered the very existence of the colony doubt- 
ful. Many Spaniards seized the first opportunity to turn 
their backs upon the New World. Thus Marguerite and 
Buil had returned to Spain, where, by their exaggerated ac- 
counts of their sufferings and by their complaints of Colum- 
bus's rule, they aroused general attention. Others roamed 
through the island, ill-treating the Indians, and thus exciting 
the extreme hostility of the harmless people towards their 
heartless persecutors. Already their cruelty had been re- 
venged by the murder of a few scattered individuals, and the 
caciques formed a secret alliance against the Spaniards. The 
soul of this alliance was Caonabo. Already he had besieged 
the bold Ojeda for thirty days in Saint Thomas, and at last 



192 A Century of Discovery. 

had only been compelled to withdraw from want of supplies. 
In him the Indians hoped they had found the liberator of 
their island. Terrible therefore was the fear on the one 
side, and great the joy on the other, when the dreaded cacique^ 
by a deed of almost incredible heroism on the part of Ojeda,. 
was brought prisoner to Isabella. The bold Spaniard, by 
means of a cunning trick, induced Caonabo to allow some 
bright jingling chains to be put on him. He then seized him^ 
placed him on a horse, and by the threat of stabbing him if 
he made the slightest resistance, succeeded in carrying him 
off to a Spanish dungeon. 

Columbus treated his prisoner with respect on account of 
his rank and heroism ; he declined to sit in judgment upon 
him himself, and subsequently took him with him to Spain ; 
but he died on the voyage of a broken heart. Warned by 
Guanacanagari, the Spaniards took measures for defence, and 
Columbus marched out as soon as he was recovered, in the 
spring of 1495, with 200 men and twenty horsemen to subdue 
the island. The most formidable allies of the Spaniards were 
the bloodhounds, who at a word from their masters threw 
themselves on the naked Indians and tore them to pieces. 
The poor creatures were perfectly defenceless against these 
four-footed assistants of the two-legged devils, as they called 
the Spaniards. 

Soon every spark of opposition was extinguished in blood,, 
and even the caciques themselves submitted. Guanonex, 
one of the most powerful, gave his sister to the interpreter,. 
Diego, to wife, and was obliged, like the rest, to suffer the 
settlement of the Spaniards in his territory, and to allow the 
building of forts. All the centre of the island was subdued,, 
and Columbus was able to think of fulfilling, at the expense 
of the vanquished race, the expectation of great riches that 
he had excited in Spain. Five hundred prisoners were shipped 
ofT in order to be sold in Seville as slaves, though, through 



Christopher ColiLinbus. 193 

the interference of the gentle-hearted Isabella, they were sub- 
sequently set free and returned to their native land. The fate 
also of those who went unpunished was deplorable. The Ad- 
miral laid upon every grown person a yearly tax of as much 
gold dust as was contained in four little bells, in weight from 
three to four ducats, or 100 pounds of cotton. This was the 
death-warrant of the poor Indians ; they could not work. 
Their life had hitherto been a peaceful enjoyment of the gifts, 
which their glorious land yielded to them either of itself or 
with slight trouble. Hard work, from which they reaped no 
benefit themselves, took away all enjoyment from their exist- 
ence. They fled in numbers to the mountains, and there 
died of hunger. Of those who remained behind, numbers 
committed suicide, casting away a life which the ill-usage 
and licentiousness of the Spaniards rendered valueless. Co- 
lumbus, however, saw with great satisfaction a vast treasure 
of gold and cotton accumulating. 

Then a heavy blow fell upon him, the forerunner of more 
evil times which were yet to come. In October, 1495, Juan 
Aguado suddenly appeared from Spain with a royal mandate 
which, with laconic brevity, directed all the Spaniards then in 
Hispaniola to refer to him. The monarchs had been moved 
to send out this embassy by anxiety for Columbus, having 
heard nothing of him for a long time. Besides, the evil re- 
ports spread by Bull and Margarite had aroused in them con- 
cern for the distant colony which had been founded at such cost. 
From Aguado, whom Columbus had himself recommended to 
them, they hoped to obtain certain information and, at the 
same time, they proposed to cut down the exorbitant expense 
caused by the wages and support of so many hundred colo- 
nists, by reducing the number to five hundred. Columbus, 
rendered uneasy by this step, resolved to proceed himself to 
Spain that he might set himself right in the King's opinion. 
He appointed his brother Bartholomew his substitute or Ade- 

13 



1 94 A Ccnhiry of Discove7y. 

latitado, and aiiant;"cd that in case of his death this power 
should go to his younger brother Diego. By these appoint- 
ments, although indeed ratified by I'^erdinand and Isabella, 
he yet brought upon himself the displeasure of the Princes, 
for they were caleuIaU-d t(^ cor.drni the reports spread by his 
enemies that he wishetl, by the neglect of the general Spanish 
interest, to make the island of Ilispaniola a private possession 
of his own f.imily. 

On the loth of March, 1496, he left the island with 220 
men, embarking on two new ships. lie stayed for some 
time among the Lesser Antilles, and arrived in the harbour 
of Cadiz on the nth of June, after a voyage of fifty days, 
which, except for a failure of provisions, was a very prospe- 
rous one. lie met the King and Queen at Burgos, and suc- 
ceeded once more in convincing them of the brilliant future 
which lay before the West India Islands by presenting them 
Avith the gold which he had collected in the last few years, 
and by giving an exaggerated estimate of the revenue which 
might be expected in the future. Chanca, the doctor and 
notary who accompanied (.\ilumbus on this journey, says in 
his report: " If the Admiral's people hail not been fonder of 
sleep and idleness than work they would have brought with 
them gold, amber, and Brazil wood in abundance. But 
nuvst of them refused to obe\' his commands, as if they were 
unjust." 

Ct^Iumlnis obtaineil a number of favourable decrees, by one 
of which all pri\'ate persons were forbidilen tt> make any 
voyages of discovery to the West Indies ; for so deluded was 
the great man that he dreamed of restraining the great impulse 
of the age b)' a family monopoly. The most difficult question 
was that of money. The ceaseless demands which Columbus 
made in behalf of the colony on the royal purse were con- 
stantly met by evasions and refusal on the part of Fonseca, 
the Minister for Indian AlTairs, and his conduct was justified 



Christophci' Columbus. 195 

by the complete exhaustion of the treasury. In order to 
lessen the serious expense of the pay of the colonists, Colum- 
bus made the unhappy proposition that Hispaniola should be 
used as a place of banishment for condemned criminals, whom 
he hoped to turn into docile and grateful colonists. Unfor- 
tunately this proposition was adopted, and Columbus subse- 
quently had to suffer much from the evil elements which 
were thus let loose among a population already rebellious 
and indolent. 

Still, however, the equipment of the new squadron, which 
Columbus was to conduct to the New World, was delayed. 
It was not until January, 1498, that he could despatch two 
ships to Hispaniola ; and the remaining six ships, which the 
Seville house of Gianotto Berardi from Florence was com- 
missioned to equip, were not ready to sail until May. How 
impatiently he bore these delays we may see, not only from 
his conduct to a subordinate of Fonseca's, but also from a 
passage in the next letter which he despatched to Ferdinand 
and Isabella from the New World. " I was," he writes, "still 
suffering from the hardships of my earlier journeys, and I had 
hoped to have found repose in Spain after my return from the 
Indies ; but, on the contrary, I found only trouble and vexa- 
tion." 

From the Canary Islands he sent on the 21st of June, half 
the squadron to Hispaniola, in order to announce his arrival, 
and to satisfy the most urgent needs of the colony. He him- 
self with three ships went to the Cape Verde Islands, and 
from thence struck out in a south-westerly direction, in order 
if possible to reach India at some point near the equator. In 
this design he was strengthened by Jacob Ferrer from Barce- 
lona, the Queen's jeweller, who assured him that the proper 
home of gold and jewels was only to be found in the tropics. 
But after a journey of many weeks, the calms and the terrible 
heat, which threatened to burst the seams of the ship and to 

13—2 



196 A Century of Discovery. 

melt the tar, made him give up his design and sail more de- 
cidedly to the north and north-west. 

In this way, on the 31st of July, Trinidad was discovered, 
which lies in 10 degrees north latitude, off the coast of South 
America ; and the next day, the ist of August, South America 
itself came in sight, the first part of the mainland which Colum- 
bus touched. It was the inhospitable delta of the Orinoco ; 
and the desolate appearance of the land, which he took for an 
island, prevented him from landing and exploring it, and de- 
termined him to sail through the narrow straits which he saw 
before him to the west. 

In the night the ships were almost swamped by a great 
tide-wave which poured through the strait ; and next morning 
the passage was effected only after a hard conflict with 
the stream. The ships then found themselves in a basin that 
was almost enclosed, and which the people on the shore called 
Paria. Into it such mighty streams flowed that for some 
distance it had no salt taste. 

This made Columbus doubtful about his idea of the insular 
form of the land. " If it should be a continent," he says in 
his diarj^ " the learned world will be very much astonished 
about it." But with this suspicion of the truth he soon 
mingles a highly fanciful mistake. He thinks that at this 
place he has discovered a wart-like swelling of the earth, so 
that the shape of the world is less like that of a ball than of a 
pear ; and in this way he explains the force and rapidity of 
the streams. He also imagines that the land from which 
they come is no other than Paradise, situated in the south-east 
of Asia, and by its height saved at the time of the flood. 

But instead of either confirming or disproving these ideas 
by a longer examination, the Admiral turned his back 
upon this land of wonders, and forcing a passage through 
the dangerous Dragon's Mouth, hastened by the Island ]\Tar- 
gucrita to Plispanicla, whither most important interests sum- 



Christopher Columbus. ic^y 

moned him. If he found everything in a prosperous con- 
dition there, he resolved to send his brother Bartholomew to 
make a further examination of the new land. Thus he forerot 
that his object had been to discover China and India, and 
allured by enjoyment and possession, he abandoned any 
further glory as a discoverer. 

On the 31st of August he entered St. Domingo, the new 
Spanish town which, at the command of the Admiral, his 
brother Bartholomew had built in his absence on the south 
coast of Hispaniola, and from which subsequently the whole 
island took its name. 

Shortly before Columbus had touched the mainland of 
America, it had been discovered much farther north by a bold 
adventurer. Sebastian Cabot, the son of a Venetian family who 
had settled in Bristol, had with his father Giovanni sailed, in 
1497, on a voyage of discovery under the royal flag of England, 
and on the 24th of June, 1497, 402 days before Columbus, 
had in north latitude 56 found an inhospitable coast, the 
peninsula of Labrador. On a second voyage, 1498, he suc- 
ceeded in rediscovering Newfoundland, whose valuable cod- 
fishery has been from that time to this a source of wealth to 
both England and France. 

He also both in his second and third voyages touched on 
the coast of North America, and explored it for some distance 
in a southerly direction ; but by degrees this was almost for- 
gotten, since all eyes were directed to the gold lands which 
had been discovered by the Spaniards and Portuguese. Yet 
we can judge of the extent of Cabot's voyages, by the fact 
that in 1500 the Spaniards found traces of the presence of 
English ships in the Bahama Islands. 

The indefatigable man for a time entered tte Spanish ser- 
vice, but quitted it again; and in 15 17 started from Bristol to 
find the North-west Passage, the conclusion in the meantime 
having been generally arrived at that the lands hitherto dis- 



198 A Century of Discovery. 

covered formed part of a continent of their own. It is true 
that he did not attain his object, being compelled to return by 
a mutiny among his men ; but according to his diaries and 
maps, he penetrated far into that labyrinthine archipelago of 
islands lying north of Hudson's Bay, which has been more 
thoroughly explored only in the present century. 

Contemporaneously with Cabot, the Portuguese family Cor- 
tereal, in which the governorship of Terceira, one of the 
Azores, was hereditary, undertook a succession of expeditions 
to the north-west. In 1500 they discovered the coast of 
Greenland, and in 1501 the woody shores of a land more to 
the south, which, from the bodily strength of its inhabitants, 
whom they thought to make slaves of, they called Labrador, 
or "the labourers' land." But when in subsequent years a 
number of ships were lost, and in them the most active 
members of the family, King Emanuel forbade the dangerous 
voyages to be continued. 

Both Sebastian Cabot and Caspar Cortereal have been 
cited by the English and Portuguese to prove that to 
them and not to the Spaniards belongs the glory of the dis- 
covery of America. But Cabot alone did in reality land on 
the New World before Columbus. And even this discovery, 
which occurred almost five years after the landing of the great 
Genoese on Guanahani, had scarcely any efifect on the gradual 
conquest and settlement of the New World. Indeed, the 
English let nearly seventy years pass away before they made 
another attempt to visit the lands discovered by Cabot, whose 
voyages by that time they had almost forgotten. They are 
therefore not in a position to contest the glory of Columbus," 
the discoverer of the New World. 

When Columbus ran into the harbour of St. Domingo, at 
the end of August, 1498, he found awaiting him news that 
were far from cheering with regard to the state of the colony. 
The energetic Adelantado had successfully put down a 



Christopher Cohunbus. 199 

Tising of the natives under the leadership of the cacique 
Guarionex, and also after a ceaseless pursuit in the mountains 
for three months had captured the ringleader. But a much 
more serious danger threatened the colony. A conspiracy 
among the Spaniards themselves, some of whom had been 
punished for cruelty to the natives, was formed against Bar- 
tholomew, and at its head was the Chief Justice Roldan, a 
man whom the Admiral had advanced. The conspirators did 
not indeed succeed in getting possession of the fort, but their 
ungovernable behaviour caused the greatest anxiety. Some 
seventy men strong, but with a camp following of lOO Indian 
women and burden-bearers, they withdrew to the west coast 
of Hispaniola, which as yet had been little touched by the 
Spaniards, and where was the kingdom of Xaragua, governed 
by a family of caciques favourable to the foreigners. Here 
they established themselves, and behaved like lords of the 
land, subjecting the natives to all kinds of ill-treatment. 

When those three ships which Columbus had sent out from 
the Canary Islands, by an unlucky accident landed in 
Xaragua, it was easy for Roldan from among the convicts 
whom they carried to persuade a considerable number to join 
the rebels. This he did by drawing a most enticing picture 
of a life of complete idleness full of unbounded pleasure. 
Grown confident by this accession to their numbers, on 
October 17th the rebels solemnly renounced their allegiance 
to the Admiral, and he found himself powerless against them. 
Even by those who remained faithful he was little loved, for 
in his efforts to secure as large a share as possible for the 
Crown and for himself, he had often run counter to the in- 
terests of others, and brought upon himself the charge of 
being hardhearted and avaricious. He was also most anxious 
to prevent anything from occurring which might shake still 
more the confidence of the monarchs in his powers of ad- 
ministration. He therefore entered into negotiation with the 



200 A Century of Discovery. 

rebels, but a year elapsed before it was brought to a success- 
ful conclusion. 

By the treaty of September 28, 1499, Roldan was restored to 
his office of Chief Justice, his friends were granted assigna- 
tions of service from the natives, the payment of their wages 
during the whole time of their rebellion, and the right to ex- 
tort the fulfilment of these conditions by force of arms. 
Though the Admiral showed himself so conciliatory, it was 
with the intention, as he informs the monarchs, of breaking 
his promises on the first opportunity, an intention which he 
tried to justify to his conscience by all kinds of sophistry. 
In fact, he took advantage of a renewal of the disturbances to 
arrest and execute some of the insurgents, leaving others to- 
languish in prison. 

At last his dreams seemed about to be fulfilled. The 
labour of the Indians, who tilled the fields for the Spaniards, 
brought in sufficient for the supply of the colony ; and the 
the mines of Cibao, let out by the Admiral to certain persons, 
paid the wages of the colonists, and produced also consider- 
able sums for the Crown and the Admiral. Columbus began 
to look forward with hope to the future, but he awoke from 
his dreams to a dismal reality. 

The rebels had several times found means to send letters to- 
the monarchs of Spain, in which they made most vehement 
accusations against Columbus, representing themselves as 
victims of the selfish family policy of the Admiral. These 
reports, added to the curses of the hundreds who returned,, 
disappointed, sick, beggared, from the countries which had 
been represented to them as golden lands and paradise, raised 
to the highest pitch the mistrust which Columbus's govern- 
ment of the new colony had excited many years before. 
Fonseca and the rest of the zealous ministers were irritated 
at his arbitrariness and constant demands for money. Ferdi- 
nand's suspicious character was alarmed at the great power 



Christopher Columbics. 201 

which was united in one hand in a country so remote, and 
he feared his royal authority would suffer ; and Isabella, who 
had till now been the Admiral's protector, was offended by the 
actual illtreatment of royal officers, and by the sale of captured. 
Indians constantly repeated in spite of prohibition. And 
lastly the glory which had shone till now round the great 
discoverer was suddenly dimmed by the return of Vasco da 
Gama from his voyage, bringing proofs that the boasted 
discoveries of the Spaniards were not, as they had proclaimed 
them to be, the Indies. The latter were forced to confess 
their error and with inward bitterness see the relations re- 
versed, and the hated Portuguese, who till now had looked at 
Spain with envy, in possession of all the endless treasures of 
the East. 

Compared to one cargo of Vasco da Gama, all that had 
poured into Spain from the New World, since the discovery 
of Guanahani, was unimportant and worthless. This change 
of feeling naturally altered the public opinion of Columbus : 
if he were not a deceiver, he was himself deluded, a fanatic. 
Such was the disposition of mind in which the Princes received 
the letters of Columbus, describing his journey and arrival in 
Hispaniola. They heard with consternation of the disorder 
reigning in the colony, and were particularly concerned at 
the determination expressed by Columbus, to extirpate, if 
necessary, the rebels to the last man. They feared the 
Admiral v/ould be carried away by his passions into hasty and 
unjust actions, and they more and more lent an ear to the 
accusations of his enemies. 

After much consideration it was determined to remove 
Columbus for a time from his ofhce, and to appoint a suc- 
cessor, to bring the colony into order. The new Governor 
was to be allowed to make fresh appointments to all the 
offices and to remove any persons at his pleasure. This was 
indeed to be only a temporary measure, and the rights of the 



202 A Century of Discovery. 

Admiral were to remain untouched. Unfortunately the choice 
of the monarchs for an office, which certainly ought to have 
been filled only by a man of the greatest caution and tact, 
fell upon the hot-headed Francis de Bobadilla. 

In June, 1500, the new Governor left Spain, and arrived in 
St. Domingo on the 23rd of August. He was able to obtain 
possession of the government without any resistance, for he 
at once drew all to his side by the promise of the pay 
which was in arrears. In the most undignified manner he 
chose to upset everything which Columbus had established. 
He heaped favours upon Roldan and his adherents, remitted 
the tenth to the settlers, with a free permission to dig for 
gold, promising every one an unrestrained golden life. "Scrape 
together what you can, who knows how long it may last," he 
is reported to have said to somebody, and he himself set them 
the example. With the greatest effrontery he took possession 
of the Admiral's house, and all he found in it. Columbus 
writes with regard to this in his letter to Ferdinand and 
Isabella: "The Commendador (Bobadilla) on his arrival 
seized my house and, to be brief, appropriated its contents. 
Perhaps, indeed, he wanted it, but no corsair could have 
treated a merchant worse." 

Columbus's brother, and afterwards himself, coming peace- 
ably to St. Domingo, were arrested and thrown into chains. 
An examination carried on secretly naturally called forth a 
number of charges against the fallen man, and produced a 
long accusation, which, with the three prisoners, was sent to 
Europe. When Columbus was committed a prisoner to 
Alonso de Valleja, who was to take him to Spain, he thought 
at first that he was going to be taken to execution, and was 
only pacified on the repeated assurance of Valleja that such 
was not the case. As soon as the anchor was weighed Valleja 
approached the Admiral and off"ered to relieve him from his 
chains, but the latter waved him back, saying that the chains 




COLUMBUS SENT IN CHAINS TO SPAIN. 



Ch7''tstophe7'' ColiLinbus. 203 

with which their majesties had loaded him should only be 
removed at their command, and that he should then preserve 
them to remind him of the reward which the Spanish crown 
had granted him for his faithful service. 

At the end of November, 1500, the ships arrived at Cadiz, 
and quick as lightning spread the news that the Admiral, 
whom seven years before every one had gone out to meet in 
triumph, was now brought home in chains at the command of 
the Princes. The public opinion of Spain was unanimous in 
condemning the unworthy manner in which they had treated 
the great benefactor of the nation. Even Ferdinand and 
Isabella were indignant when they heard of Bobadilla's con- 
duct. They sent immediately a command to Cadiz to set the 
Admiral at liberty, and treat him with due honour. They 
sent to himself a present of 2000 ducats and an invitation to 
come to their court at Granada. There Columbus appeared 
on the 17th of December, and cast himself with bitter tears 
before their throne. Greatly moved, the King and Queen 
raised him up. The generous Isabella could not restrain 
her tears at the thought of the injustice that had been 
done in her name to such a faithful subject. The least 
satisfaction that could be granted to a man so injured 
was the deposition of Bobadilla, who had far exceeded his 
commission, and it was immediately determined upon. But 
when the first impulse had spent itself there was considerable 
hesitation as to the advisability of restoring Columbus to his 
command. Would not the impetuous man abuse his power 
against all who had contributed to his fall, and was there not 
important testimony to prove that in the government of His- 
paniola he had not succeeded in winning the love and trust 
of the settlers } It appeared better to entrust to an impartial 
man the adjustment of the vexed questions and the tranquil- 
lising of irritated feeling. Such a man the Princes thought 
they had found in Don Nicolas de Ovando, an unselfish and 



204 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

strictly just man, who, on the 3rd of September, 1501, was 
appointed governor of Hispaniola. The trustworthy lawyer 
Maldonado was sent out with him to examine into the conduct 
of Bobadilla and Roldan. 

The invitation to accompany the new governor to the 
transatlantic settlement, which was now to be reduced to 
order, met with an extraordinary response from the Spanish 
people. On the thirty-two ships 2500 persons left Spain, with 
Ovando, on the 13th of February, 1502. It was with pain 
that Columbus saw himself thus pushed aside, and even though 
the monarchs treated him with kindness and assured him 
that his claims to the tenth part of the produce of the colony 
should remain undisputed, yet, from the scant intercourse 
with Hispaniola, it was inevitable that Columbus should 
sometimes be in want, especially as he had returned to Spain 
without any money. 

This inactive waiting was hard to bear, since it might be 
years before he were re-installed, and he saw, Avith bitter 
vexation, how every year numbers of bold men set out to 
discover lands which he had reserved for himself. For as 
early as the year 1499 the crown had taken off the absurd 
prohibition of all private undertakings which the selfishness 
of Columbus had procured, and since that time large extents 
of coast had been discovered on the other side of the Atlantic 
Ocean. The bold Alonso de Ojeda had, in 1499, discovered 
the coast of South America as far as the river Amazon, and 
after that a great part of the north coast. Also, the experienced 
seaman, Per Alonso Nino, and Vincente Yanez Pinzon, 
who in 1492 had commanded the Nina, had set out "on 
discoveries. While the former brought back a great treasure 
of gold and pearls from the island Margarita, Pinzon, who 
sailed S.S.W. from the Canary Islands, was the discoverer of 
the Brazils, since, on the 26th January, 1500, almost three 
months before the landing of Cabral, he discovered Cape St. 



Christopher Columbus. 205 

Augustine, and from that point followed the coast towards the 
north as far as the Caribean Sea. Lastly, Rodrigo de Bastidas 
who, accompanied by the great seaman Juan de la Cosa, had 
sailed from Seville in 1500, completed the investigation of 
the north coast of South America by steering steadily west- 
ward from Venezuela until he reached Darien. He also had 
brought home great treasures with him. 

When now Ojeda prepared for a second voyage, Columbus 
was afraid that his glory as a discoverer would be still more 
diminished, and offered himself to the crown for a new expe- 
dition into unknown regions. Thus we see the great man by 
a number of painful circumstances restored to his true vocation, 
which unfortunately he had forsaken. The monarchs eagerly 
accepted the proposal of the Admiral. It was arranged that 
the object of this voyage should be to reach China and India; 
for between Cuba, which was still considered part of the 
Asiatic mainland, and the coast of South America it was the 
universal idea that there must be, towards the south-west, a 
passage to India. After the departure of the great fleet which 
had sailed with Ovando to Hispaniola, it was not easy to 
provide Columbus with a sufficient squadron, and therefore he 
was obliged to content himself with four ships and 150 sailors. 
Besides his brother Bartholomew, he was accompanied by his 
younger son, Ferdinand, who was born at Cordova on 
September 27th, 1488, of Donna Beatrice Enriquez d'Arana, 
and whose coolness in danger during this voyage is warmly 
praised by his father. 

On the 9th of May, 1502, Columbus left Cadiz, touched at 
the Canary Islands on the 26th of May, and after a voyage of 
unparalleled prosperity reached Matinono, now called Mar- 
tinique, which had not been visited by him previously. Instead 
of proceeding immediately to discover the west passage, he 
could not resist the temptation of showing himself again free 
and in authority to his beloved Hispaniola, which had seen 



206 A Century of Discovery. 

him depart in chains, and thus infringed a distinct command 
of Ferdinand and Isabella. For the monarchs, in their well- 
founded fears that a visit of Columbus would renew the 
irritation and disturb Ovando in his work of reconciliation, 
had exacted a promise from the Admiral not to touch His- 
paniola except on his way back from China. A desire to 
exchange an unseaworthy ship for a better sailer formed his 
excuse for breaking this promise. But Ovando, who followed 
scrupulously the orders he himself had received, refused him 
permission to enter the harbour of St. Domingo, and Columbus 
experienced the bitter pain of being treated as an enemy 
and repulsed from a land that he had presented to Spain. 
The great fleet was lying ready for its return to Europe, but 
leaving the safe harbour in spite of the warnings of Columbus, 
it encountered a violent storm and was almost entirely 
destroyed. In this fearful catastrophe Guarionex, Bobadilla, 
Roldan, and other enemies of Columbus whom Ovando was 
sending to Spain for trial, met their deaths. It was not only 
to the Admiral that this appeared an act of divine retribution 
upon those who had offended against him. 

On the 14th of July the little squadron, which had taken 
refuge from the violence of the storm in the shelter of a bay, 
left the island of Hispaniola and steered for the west. Jamaica 
was only touched at, and on the 30th of July the ships anchored 
before Guanaja, a coral island in what is now called the Gulf 
of Honduras, close to the coast of the mainland. While the 
Spaniards were trying to make themselves understood by the 
inhabitants, there approached them from the open sea a boat, 
the workmanship of which struck Columbus with astonishment. 
It was, indeed, only the trunk of a single tree hollowed out, but 
in length it equalled a galley, and was eight feet wide. It had 
an awning, made of reeds and leaves, for the commander and 
his wives and children. This strange vessel came alongside 
of the Spanish fleet without fear, and its crew immediately 
climbed on board. 



Christopher Columbus. 207 

At the first glance Columbus, now a practised observer^ 
perceived that he had to do with people of a higher cultiva- 
tion than those he had hitherto met. The men wore a gar- 
ment round their waists, and the women were carefully con- 
cealed in their wide mantles. They represented themselves 
as merchants coming from a land called Maya, to exchange 
their wares with less civilised people. Among these wares 
Columbus mentions cotton-cloth, skilfully woven carpets, and 
copper axes, knives, pans, vessels of stone, wood, and clay, and, 
lastly, swords made of hard wood, in the blade of which were 
placed great pieces of obsidian. They also brought a great quan- 
tity of brown seeds, which they valued very highly, and which 
v/ere unknown to the Spaniards. They were the seeds of the 
cacao-tree, which were used as money at that time in Mexico 
and Yucatan. 

Although these remarkable Indians, who, at any rate, must 
have come from Yucatan, extolled to Columbus the abund- 
ance of silver in their country, and .spoke of its dense population, 
yet he would not be persuaded to visit the land of Maya, the 
name of which he immediately connected with the Chinese 
province of Manchoo. He was rather strengthened in his 
original plan by the information that they gave him of gold 
lands to the south-east. Thus for the third time Columbus 
put off visiting Yucatan and Mexico, the discovery of which 
would have brought him new glory, and would have saved 
him the bitter experience of the last years of his life. 

Instead of this, the voyage continued to the south. But the 
coast soon took a bend towards the south-east ; then directly 
towards the east ; and it was difficult to make way along it on 
account of the opposing winds and the stormy water. At last, on 
the 1 2th of September, a cape was reached, and beyond that 
the coast again took a most decidedly southerly direction. At 
the sight of this a great burden fell from the soul of the Ad- 
miral, who for a moment had begun to doubt the possibility 



2o8 A Cenht,ry of Discovery. 

of finding a passage to the south-west, and full of joyful thank- 
fulness to God, he named the cape, which now is generally- 
called Cape Honduras, Gracias a Dios. 

Still struggling against opposing winds, the squadron sailed 
in a southerly direction, to the barren coast of what is now 
called Mosquito Land, until it reached smiling regions thickly 
peopled. Columbus did not doubt that he was on the eastern 
•coast of the so-called Golden peninsula — that was the name 
given by Ptolemy to the Malay peninsula in Further India ; 
and in this delusion he was strengthened, not only by the 
riches of the country, but also by the information which he 
received from the Indians, that nine days' journey to the Avest 
there was another sea. According to Columbus's idea, this 
could be nothing else but the Bay of Bengal ; and so he re- 
peatedly assured himself that he was only ten days' journey 
from the Ganges. Thus he was mistaken by not less than 
1 80° — half the circumference of the globe. But so certain was 
he of the justice of his idea, that he believed the south point 
of the peninsula to be quite close, and eagerly pursued his 
course, in spite of the stormy weather. But the coast bent 
round again to the east, and he could scarcely hide from him- 
self any longer that he had reached the coasts discovered by 
Ojeda and Bastidas. 

Fortune did not allow Columbus to correct his mistake. 
On the 5th of December he was obliged by the violence of 
the contrary winds to return; he had arrived at the narrowest 
part of the Isthmus of Panama. Only a few days more, and 
he would have reached coasts where he must have found clear 
traces of the recent visit of Spanish ships — coasts the con- 
nection of which with Paria, which he himself had discovered, 
had been proved. But, just as on his second journey to the 
south coast of Cuba, he turned round at the decisive moment, 
and so died in the belief that Hispaniola was Japan, Cuba a 
peninsula of Asia, the Isthmus of Panama the peninsula of 



Christopher Columbus. 209 

Malacca, and that between the latter and the north coast of 
South America, which he supposed to be an enormous island, 
there must be a passage to the Indian Seas, and that this way 
would prove shorter and less dangerous than the Portuguese 
way round the Cape of Good Hope. 

The ships continued to suffer from rough weather on their 
return voyage, and in a few days it increased to such violence 
that destruction was hourly expected. But after some weeks' 
cruising about, they came to anchor at the mouth of a river 
on the coast of Veragua, which they had passed some months 
before. To the general surprise, it appeared that they were 
in a land of gold, the riches of which, as far as could be dis- 
covered from expeditions that Bartholomew made in February, 
1503, appeared to be inexhaustible. They proceeded imme- 
diately to erect huts, where fifty men, with the Adelantado at 
their head, determined to remain as the nucleus of a colony. 
Fortunately the departure of the ships was delayed by a sand- 
bank which the dry weather formed at the mouth of the river; 
for just when they had intended to depart, the Indians, em- 
bittered by a rash attack which the Adelantado had made 
against the most powerful Prince of the land — Quibia — made 
so violent an assault on the young settlement that it was 
evident it could not be held. With considerable loss — thir- 
teen Spaniards were killed, many wounded, and both the 
boats lost — the colonists succeeded in getting on board, and 
thereupon, on the 20th of April, the fleet left the inhospit- 
able coast, abandoning the fourth ship, which was no longer 
■seaworthy. 

For the same reason they were obliged to forsake and sink 
another ship on the open sea. The two remaining vessels 
could scarcely be kept above water ; their keels were eaten 
away by a kind of shell- fish, and there were such serious leaks 
that the whole crew was continually employed at the pumps. 
Fortunately the weather was favourable, and the ships were 

14 



2IO A Centtiry of Discovery. 

carried without wind by the currents to the north, until, on 
the loth of May, they reached the south coast of Cuba. 

Only Columbus knew where he was, and apparently he con- 
firmed the mistake of the pilots, who thought they w^ere at 
Porto Rico, in order to keep to himself the knowledge of 
the gold land of Veragua. After only a short stay, steering- 
south, he crossed over to Jamaica, and there he allowed the 
two ships, which were only miserable wrecks, to run on to the 
sand. He hoped that help would be sent him from the neigh- 
bouring island of Hispaniola, where by some fortunate accident 
they might soon hear of his distress. He also made the ex- 
periment of sending two canoes to Hispaniola, to hire a ship 
at his own expense. For this daring undertaking, which was 
sometimes ventured upon by the Indians of Jamaica, he 
chose his faithful secretary, Diego Mendez, and the Genoese 
Bartholomew Fiesco. To each he gave six Spaniards and ten 
native oarsmen. 

The brave men reached the coast of Hispaniola after a four- 
days' voyage, but did not succeed in doing much for those left 
behind in Jamaica. The cold prudence of Ovando judged 
that in the half-pacified state of the island the appearance of 
the Admiral would be injudicious ; so he deferred giving an 
answer to the envoys, and it was not until after seven long 
months had elapsed that the faithful Mendez received per- 
mission to hire a ship. It was only the open discontent of 
the Spanish colonists that impelled Ovando at last to despatch 
a small vessel to inquire about the condition of the Admiral. 

Before the departure of Fiesco and Mendez, Columbus 
had been ill, and even when he was able now and then- to 
leave his bed he was obliged to remain in one of the wrecks, 
in which he had fixed his dwelling. There the account of the 
journey for Ferdinand and Isabella was written, which, dated 
the 7th of July, he committed to the care of Mendez. The 
style of this remarkable letter is very melancholy. In con- 



Christopher Cohimbiis. 211 

trast to his earlier letters, there is a striking want of order in his 
relation of facts, and only every now and then he launches 
forth in the lively descriptions of nature and in the exag- 
gerated calculations which occur so often in his other writings. 
Humboldt has already pointed out that the peculiarities spring 
from the deep excitement of a proud soul, hurt by a long 
course of injustice and deceived in its most cherished hopes. 
In bitter words he holds up before the monarchs the ingrati- 
tude which they had shown him, and breaks out in the most 
piteous complaints. "Where is the man," writes he, "not 
even excepting Job, unhappier than I ? The very harbours 
which I discovered at the peril of my life refused me a refuge 
from the death which threatened me, my young son, my 
brother, and my friends. The service, pains, and dangers of 
twenty years have brought me no gain. At this present time 
I possess not a brick in Spain, and inns alone offer me shelter 
when I need rest or a simple meal, though, alas ! I often have 
not the money wherewith to pay the bill. For the same 
reason I have left my son Don Diego in Spain, without the 
means of subsistence and without a father, hoping that he 
would find in your highnesses just and grateful Princes, who 
w^ould repay him with interest that of which your service has 
robbed him." In another place he plainly attacks his op- 
ponents, particularly Fonseca. " Let him who has caused 

these evils come and heal them if he can Favour and 

honour ought to be granted to him who has exposed himself 
to the dangers of the undertaking ; and it is unjust that he 
who has opposed it should, together with his heir, reap the 
profits." This disjointed account of his experiences is in^ 
terrupted by a stubborn defence of his geographical blunders. 
" The earth is not so large as people think ; six parts of its 
surface are land, and only one-seventh is sea." Then come en- 
thusiastic descriptions of the discovered treasures. Thus he 
declares Veragua is the Ophir of the Bible, from which Solo- 

14 — 2 



2 12 A Cenhijy of Discovery. 

mon procured gold for the Temple ; and about the riches of 
traditional lands, Ciambe and Ceguarra, which ought to lie 
south-west of Veragua, he breaks out In the most exaggerated 
style. More frequently too than was the case in his earlier 
letters the religious fanaticism of his natural character be- 
comes evident, as in the lofty description which he gives of 
a vision he had had in January. A voice from Heaven had 
reproved him for his faintheartedness, and had revealed to 
liim the wisdom of the Divine ways. But the deepest vexa- 
tion breaking out in passionate complaints is the great char- 
acteristic of the letter. 

Approaching events were not calculated to remove this 
dejection. The crew, unoccupied and no longer bound to- 
gether by active service, became most unruly, and neither the 
sick Admiral nor the stern Adelantado could force them to 
obedience. Under the idea that Columbus intended to hinder 
their return, and would force them to remain as colonists on 
the unhealthy coast, some fifty men, under the leadership of 
two brothers, named Porras, combined together and quitted 
the ship, intending to try and get back to Spain by them- 
selves. Failing to do this, they wandered about the island 
illusing the Indians. Columbus and those who had re- 
mained true to him had to suffer for the excesses of these 
men ; for the Indians, who hitherto had brought them all the 
necessaries of life in exchange for the most trifling gifts, now 
kept aloof, and even showed such a hostile disposition that 
the disabled crews of the stranded ships were in the greatest 
danger. An eclipse of the moon, which Columbus had cal- 
culated beforehand, made the Indians friendly again ; for 
when they saw the face of the moon darkened in displeasure 
at their inhospitality, as Columbus had told them it would 
be, they sought to avert the anger of the god by rich offerings 
to the starving strangers. 

As the first token of an approaching rescue appeared that 



. Christopher CohcmbiLs. 2 [ 3, 

little ship which Ovando had sent out to procure news, under 
the command of Diego de Escobar, a rival of Columbus. To 
be sure, he only brought letters and a small quantity of provi- 
sions, refused to land, and soon departed, without taking any 
of the shipwrecked party with him ; but they felt they were, 
not altogether forgotten, and learned that Mendez was neo-o- 
tiating for the hire of a ship. But before it made its appear- 
ance there was a regular fight between the two parties of 
Spaniards. With fifty men the dauntless Adelantado went 
out against the rebels, who had established themselves in the 
neighbourhood of the ship, and forced them to submit, after a 
bloody battle. 

At last the longed-for ship appeared, and Columbus quitted 
Jamaica on the 28th of June, 1504, having endured great 
sufferings on the island for more than a year. He was 
honourably received in St. Domingo ; but the suspicious 
Ovando watched with such anxiety every step of the Admiral 
that the latter determined to return as soon as possible to- 
Spain. On the 12th of September, 1504, he left his beloved 
Hispaniola, never to see it again, and, after a stormy passage 
landed at Cadiz in the beginning of November. 

Thus ended Columbus's last voyage, in which he had dis- 
covered a great part of the coast of Central America, and had 
found a new land of gold. But little attention was bestowed 
upon these results, because he again had not found the western 
passage to China and India. The death of his patroness 
Isabella, which took place on the 26th of November, shortly 
after Columbus landed, was a severe blow to him. From the 
cold Ferdinand, who always behaved in a suspicious and 
reserved manner to Columbus, he could not expect a reinstal- 
lation. He was, indeed, well received at Court, and in a 
manner suited to his rank^ but the utmost to which the 
King would condescend was to propose that the Vice-royalty 
of the West Indies should be exchanged for a Castilian 



214 ^ Century of Discovery. 

earldom. But upon that point Columbus would not give up 
his right, and so the breach between them became wider and 
wider. He cannot at that time have wanted means, for the 
royal revenues from the West Indies, which were even then 
considerable, came in regularly, and the tenth of them fell to 
Columbus. The property too which he had left behind him in 
Hispaniola in 1500 was restored in the most honourable man- 
ner. But anxiety about the establishment of his claims to the 
Viceroyalty, and vexation at the arbitrary enactments of the 
Indian Council which, under the President Fonseca, managed 
the affairs of the Spanish colonies in the New World, under- 
mined his already shattered health. In Valladolid, in the 
spring of 1506, he had a violent attack of his old complaint. 
He saw that death was approaching and prepared himself for 
it by arranging his affairs and by exercises of pious devotion. 
With the ejaculation, " Lord, into Thy hands I commit my 
spirit," he expired in the arms of his son on Ascension Day, 
May 2 1st, 1506. According to his wish, he was buried in the 
Franciscan cloister at Valladohd, but in 15 13 Ferdinand 
caused his remains to be disinterred and gave them a new 
resting-place in the Carthusian cloister of Santa Maria de las 
Cuevas in Seville. But neither there were they destined long 
to remain. At the wish of the Spanish settlers in the New 
World, they were in the year 1536 transferred to the Cathedral 
of St. Domingo ; and when, in the year 1795, Spain was forced 
to yield the island of Hispaniola to France, she would not 
leave to the new possessors the bones of the great discoverer. 
Once more exhumed they were with great pomp interred in 
the principal church of Havana, the capital of Cuba, and a 
splendid monument was raised over them. 

Columbus was only fifty years of age, but during his life- 
time he was generally supposed to be older, and his appearance 
justified this idea, for his frame was thoroughly worn out by 
the superhuman exertions which he had made. Even in his 



Christopher Columbus. 215 

thirtieth year his hair was quite white. IJe is described as of 
middle height, well proportioned, and strongly built. His 
long face, with an aquiline nose and rather prominent cheek- 
bones, was fresh-coloured. His light-grey eyes had a friendly 
look, and were particularly expressive when he spoke, as he 
usually did in a lively manner, and with many gestures. He 
liked simple attire, preferring a garment which resembled in 
colour and cut the garb of the Franciscans. 

The great man, even though we do not seek to hide his 
faults, may well claim not only the grateful reverence of 
posterity for the discovery of a New World, but also our 
interest in his personal life. If he was too hasty in his con- 
clusions, yet the strength of his convictions, which led him to 
scorn all disappointments and vexations, was truly wonderful. 
His power of observation in apprehending and explaining so 
many new appearances in land trodden by him for the first 
time was very great. And though the mistakes which he made 
in his geographical calculations were preposterous, yet we 
must remember that they were shared by the greatest scholars 
of his time. 

How rich an imagination is displayed in his vivid descrip- 
tions of the splendours of tropical nature, and how varied 
are the similes and illustrations ever at his command in his 
descriptions of his voyages, has often been pointed out. In 
disposition Columbus was gentle and humane, but he required 
from his subordinates the same unwearied diligence that he 
imposed upon himself, without considering that they could 
not possess his enthusiasm. In times of difficulty, when 
those under him were rebellious and refractory, he never 
knew the right times for compliance and firmness, so that 
he constantly failed in authority. On his soft, almost sen- 
timental disposition, which preserved him from injustice to- 
wards others, the wrongs and i injuries which he himself had 
to endure made so deep an impression that he could not 



I 2 1 6 A Century of Discovery. 



easily forgive people who had done him harm. The discovery 
of gold in Hispaniola was disastrous to him ; the wish to 
fulfil the great expectations which he had raised made him 
blind to his impotence to restrain the wild rapacious colo- 
nists, and turned the soft-hearted man into a merciless slave- 
dealer. 

Very singular too is the manner in which, in spite of his 
great learning, he clung to the superstitions of his time. 
The grounds of his geographical conjectures he sought in the 
Prophets and in the mysterious intimations of the writers of 
the Middle Ages ; and his greatest hope was, with the help of 
the boundless wealth which the New World was certain to 
produce, to effect the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre from 
the rule of the Turks. A short time before his death he was 
employed upon a work which he never finished, " The Pro- 
phecies," in which he calculates that the destruction of the 
world would take place in the year 1656. It has been already 
mentioned that his excited fancy led him to believe that he 
saw visions. 

The death of this great man was almost unnoticed in Spain. 
Even in the year 1520 Spanish writers were in doubt 
whether he still lived, but later ages have been just to his 
memory. 

The faithful brother of the great discoverer, Bartholomew 
the Adelantado, was in the year 151 1 granted by King Ferdi- 
nand the island of Mona, between Plispaniola and Porto Rico, 
but it reverted to the Crown upon his death in 1 5 14. Diego 
the younger brother, who in 1503 had received an office at 
court that brought him a considerable income, must have died 
shortly before Bartholomew in Seville, also without heirs. 
Of the two sons of the Admiral, the younger, Ferdinand, the 
brave companion of his father on his fourth voyage, occupied 



Christopher Cohtmbus. 217 

an honourable position at the Court of the young King and 
Emperor Charles V., in whose company he several times visited 
Germany and Flanders. He was one of the members of that 
famous court which at Badajos, in 1524, was appointed to divide 
the world between Spain and Portugal. He was not an ecclesi- 
astiCj as some have thought; but being unmarried and childless, 
spent his very considerable income in collecting a library of 
rare and precious books, which, though much reduced by 
dishonest hands, still exists at Seville under the name of 
the Columbian Library. Before his death, which occurred 
at Seville in 1539, he composed a memoir of his great 
father, of which an Italian translation was printed in Venice 
in 1571. 

Diego, the eldest son of the Admiral, married, in 1508, 
Donna Maria de Toledo, of the family of the Dukes of Alva,, 
who was herself related to the royal house. This high alliance 
immediately procured for him the appointment of Viceroy of 
the Indies, and in 1509 he relieved Ovando in the government 
of the Island of Hispaniola. But in the interests of the Crown^ 
the influence and authority of the distant Viceroy was grad- 
ually reduced, so that at last it became a mere empty dignity. 
The successful issue of the lawsuit against the Crown which 
his father had instituted was some compensation to him for 
this. The results of other lawsuits by which he hoped to 
gain for himself the coasts of Central America, he did not live 
to see, being carried off by a sudden death in the year 1526. 
For his infant son the widow entered into a compromise,, 
by which he received the title of the Duke of Veragua, Mar- 
quis of Jamaica, Captain-general of Hispaniola, and Admiral 
of the Indies, together with an hereditary yearly income of 
10,000 ducats. This title and revenue were only enjoyed for 
two generations, the second Don Diego, great-grandson of the 
discoverer, dying in 1576 without children. In a great lawsuit 



2 1 8 A Century of Discovery. 

the relatives"struggled for the inheritance of the estate, but it 
was not until 1608 that a decision was obtained, by which 
Don Nuno de Braganza, Count of Gelves, a descendant of 
the great Admiral through his mother, obtained the succes- 
sion to all the titles, rights, and revenues. 



CHAPTER III. 

AMERIGO VESPUCCI. 

Although a thankful posterity has recognised the merits of 
Columbus, and accorded to him boundless honour and glory, 
the great reward, to which he had a right, they denied him, 
not naming after him the New World, which he first imagined 
and discovered beyond the Atlantic Ocean. The injustice 
thus inflicted on the great discoverer is certainly not miti- 
gated by the honour, through a mere whim of fortune, falling 
to a man who, though in every respect honourable and 
worthy, could never be placed by the side of Columbus, and 
indeed never thought of emulating him.. 

Amerigo (an Italian form of the German Almerich) Ves- 
pucci was born on March 9th, 145 1. He was the son of the 
rich and esteemed Anastasio Vespucci by his marriage with 
Elizabeth Mini. The family to which he belonged was one 
of the chief in the flourishing state of Florence, and like most 
other important families of that town was devoted to trade. 
Even the youthful Amerigo, who had received a careful edu- 
cation from a learned uncle, became a merchant ; at the same 
time mastering so thoroughly all knowledge accessible to him 
that he was afterwards much distinguished for his acquaint- 
ance with mathematics and geography. 

But about the general course of his youth and early man- 
hood we have no certain information. We first hear of him 
again in 1490. In that year he left Florence, and v/ent to 
Seville, where he became manager in a large house of busi- 



220 A Cenhtry of Discovery. 

ness belonging to his countryman Gianotto Berardi. It had 
only been established a few years, but had already become 
the largest firm of the town, and could boast of all kinds of 
distinctions that had been conferred on it by the royal house 
of Castile. 

Amerigo came to Seville just at the right time, for only a 
few years later the newly-instituted Indian Council held its 
sittings in the town, and from it numerous expeditions started 
for the New World. The house of Berardi took a most active 
share in this new movement. Indeed, it provisioned in a 
great part Columbus's second fleet, and the fitting out of the 
third fleet was entirely owing to Vespucci, who after Berardi's 
death in 1495 became principal of the firm. Intercourse with 
great seamen awoke in Vespucci that dormant inclination for 
discovery which finally induced him to give up his life as a 
merchant. When, owing to the efforts of Bishop Fonseca, 
the President of the Indian Council, and in spite of all that 
Columbus could do, the path of discovery was opened to all, 
Vespucci was one of the first to enter upon it. 

On the 20th of May, 1499, he left Seville in the company 
of Alonso de Ojeda, who, having distinguished himself during 
Columbus's second voyage, had through his cousin, the In- 
quisitor Ojeda, obtained permission from Fonseca to visit 
Paria and the neighbouring coasts. In what capacity Ves- 
pucci accompanied him, whether as merchant or astronomer, 
or, as he states himself, as a functionary of the King, is not 
very clear. 

The little fleet, consisting of two ships and fifty-seven men, 
had as pilot the famous Juan de la Cosa, with whom Ojeda 
had become acquainted in the service of Columbus. On the 
1 8th of May, 1499, they left Cadiz, and the wind constantly 
favouring them, at the beginning of July they sighted the 
coasts of the New World, and reckoned they were 200 miles 



Amerigo Vespucci. 22 r 

south-east of Paria, and therefore near the country now called 
Guiana. 

Impelled by the desire of reaching the south coast of Asia, 
the Spaniards steered towards the south ; but their hope that 
the coast would at last turn towards the west was disap- 
pointed. On the contrary, they came to the mouths of two 
larere rivers three or four miles wide, the fresh water of which 
affected the sea for a great distance. They were the Amazon 
and the Rio Para. The region appeared to Vespucci an 
earthly paradise. He was specially struck with the magnifi- 
cence of the vegetation, and at night he never tired of study- 
ing the stars of the southern sky, which were all new to him. 
He observed and described with great acuteness the manners 
of the inhabitants, and this part of his travels many readers 
have studied, and thus the name of the author has become 
famous. He describes the Indians as a careless race, without 
any belief in a God, knowing no distinction between right 
and wrong, and without any sense of shame. He praises 
their activity, but expresses himself warmly about many of 
their wicked customs, especially their cannibalism. 

The voyage to the south was continued for some time, until 
contrary winds forced them to return. The little fleet sailed 
back to the regions already discovered, and reached Trinidad, 
which Columbus had explored on his third voyage. Following 
his example, they passed through the Serpent's Mouth into 
the Gulf of Paria, and after some stay among the friendly 
natives left it through the Dragon's Mouth. From the Island 
of Margarita, which Columbus had seen previously, they ob- 
tained some pearls, and turning again southwards along the 
coast, they entered a region untouched by Europeans. They 
discovered everywhere beautiful lands and friendly natives, 
and continued their voyage along the coast, landing occasion- 
ally ; but nowhere could they find the precious things that 
they so eagerly sought. However, leaving the coast, some 



22 2 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

fruitful islands were discovered towards the north, the largest 
of which, Curasao, from a story originating in the terror of 
one of Ojeda's sailors, long had the reputation of being in- 
habited by giants. 

Pressing on towards the west, the bold sailors found a lofty 
peninsula, which they rounded, and on its west beach came 
upon an Indian village, the construction of which excited 
their astonishment. The huts were supported on high pillars, 
and were connected with one another and with the land by 
drawbridges. From this circumstance the whole territory 
received the name of Venezuela, or Little Venice, which it 
still bears. The Spaniards soon became involved in a quarrel 
with the warlike inhabitants of the town, in which, as might 
be expected, they were the conquerors. The ships left with 
a stolen cargo of cotton, and steering southwards, traversed 
the broad Gulf of Venezuela. They thus discovered the narrow 
canal which leads into the Sea of Maracaybo, but Ojeda, 
although he had no difficulty in procuring provisions and met 
with a friendly reception from the Indians, found neither gold 
nor pearls, and therefore determined to return. He sailed 
along the West shore of the Gulf of Venezuela, from which 
the snowy peaks of the Sierra di Santa Marta were visible, 
and when the ships reached the open sea a favourable south- 
west breeze filled their sails and brought them in a few days 
to the coast of Hispaniola. 

Columbus's dispute with the rebels under Roldan had just 
been brought to a conclusion by the treaty so humiliating to 
the Admiral. The arrival of Ojeda, who had a good repute 
among the Spanish settlers, appeared dangerous to both 
parties, and the Admiral was especially irritated at the in- 
fringement of his rights, which he considered Ojeda's voyage 
to be. Quarrels ensued, amounting even to bloodshed, until 
Ojeda, at the beginning of January, 1500, determined to quit 
the island. In order to make up for the lack of gold and 



A merig o Vespucci, 223 

pearls, which were so much looked for, Ojeda turned his ships 
towards the north, and from the the little islands at the south 
of Florida, and from the Bahama Islands, which had not been 
visited since 1492, collected a cargo of 200 Indian slaves 
These, after his return in the middle of June, 1500, he pub- 
licly sold in Cadiz. Nevertheless, the profit falling to those 
who had taken part in the voyage was miserably small. 

But love of adventure impelled the fiery Ojeda to new 
enterprises. As early as July 28th, 1500, he made an 
agreement with Fonseca by which, undertaking a new 
voyage, he secured to himself the Governorship of all the 
Coasts of Maracaybo which he might discover. But the 
Crown delaying the ratification, Ojeda did not set out until 
January, 1502. The settlement then formed was very soon 
abandoned on account of the want of provisions, the hostility 
of the irritated Indians, and discord among the Spaniards. 
Thrown into chains by his own men, Ojeda was brought 
through Hispaniola to Spain, where he had hard work to 
hold his own in a lawsuit instituted against him, A third 
voyage to Venezuela in 1505 was also unsuccessful. For 
some years the brave man lived at Hispaniola in straitened 
circumstances, until at last he was named Governor of Nueva 
Andalusia, a province of the north coast of South America, 
between the Gulf of Venezuela and the mouth of the Atrato,, 
and departed in 1509 for his post. He endeavoured vainly 
to form settlements at various points, and a series of fierce 
engagements with the Caribs caused the Spaniards serious 
loss, the famous pilot Juan de la Cosa being among the 
killed. 

The colony of San Sebastian, which finally he established 
near the mouth of Atrato, was reduced to such a condition 
by sickness, famine, and constant battles — in v/hich all the 
heroism of Ojeda could not break the power of the enemy — 
that he was obliged himself at last to proceed to Hispaniola 



2 24 ^ Cenhiry of Discovery. 

to seek for assistance. During his absence the colony became 
scattered, and he himself having- reached Hispaniola, after 
going through all kinds of dangers and deprivations, died 
there in 15 15 in the greatest misery, stripped of everything 
and forgotten by all. 

He is perhaps the most interesting figure among the thou- 
sands of adventurers who at that time made the New World 
the scene at once of the most atrocious crimes and of the 
most heroic deeds. He united in a striking manner all the 
most contradictory qualities which those adventurers dis- 
played. Heroism and a thirst for gold, a keen enjoyment of 
life and a great capability of enduring hardships, an utter 
deafness to the dictates of conscience and a fanatical adhe- 
rence to the commands of the Church. Whilst Ojeda was 
constantly impelled by love of adventure to new enterprises 
Vespucci discovered such a taste for the excitement and 
varied experiences which travelling offered as rendered it im- 
possible for him to return to his mercantile life. It is gene- 
rally assumed that he accompanied Vincente Yanez Pinzon, 
that distinguished seaman from Palos, who had served under 
Columbus as commander of the Nina, in an expedition to the 
coast of Brazil, about three months before Cabral's voyage. 
This opinion is supported by an account of a voyage, pub- 
lished under the name of Amerigo, in which the name of 
Pinzon is not mentioned, but the principal circumstances of 
the voyage are described in accordance with the facts. 

Pinzon, however, left Palos on the i8th of November, 1499, 
when Ojeda's squadron, in which was Vespucci, lay on the coast 
of Hispaniola. Even if one assumes that Vespucci, immediately 
on his arrival in the island, which at the earliest could not 
have occurred before the 23rd of September, 1499, separated 
from Ojeda and returned to Europe, it still does not allow 
time for the voyage and the preparations unavoidable before 
Pinzon's departure. Besides this, his first account, in which 



Ame7^igo Vespucci. 225 

he describes the occurrences of Ojeda's voyage, is dated July 
iSth, 1500, at which time Pinzon, who did not return until 
September 30th, was still in America. Therefore there is 
greater probability in the idea that these excellent "Voyages," 
which are only preserved in a very mangled condition, were 
not written by Vespucci, or were drawn up by him from the 
accounts given him by some one who took part in the voyage. 
But his participation in Ojeda's expedition drew upon the 
Florentine the attention of King Emanuel of Portugal, who, 
from Cabral's report of the discovery of Brazil, at once per- 
ceived the importance of that land for connecting Portugal 
with India, and hastened to take possession of it before the 
Spanish discoverers should have entered it. Apparently be- 
fore Pinzon, the real discoverer of Brazil, had returned from 
his voyage, an offer had been made to Vespucci to enter the 
Portuguese service and to take part in an exploring expedi- 
tion along its coast. He gladly consented, and on the 13th of 
May, 1 501, we see him leaving the harbour of Lisbon on 
board a squadron consisting of three vessels. We do not 
know who was the commander, but at any rate it was not 
Vespucci, who did not possess the necessary experience, and 
who is much more likely to have accompanied the fleet as a 
cosmographer, as Behaim had once accompanied Bartholomew 
Diaz. The object of the voyage was not merely to prove the 
identity of the coasts discovered by Cabral and Ojeda, which 
Pinzon's voyage had rendered doubtful, but also, if possible, 
to sail round the newly-discovered coasts in a westerly direc- 
tion, and thus discover a second route to India, by which 
might be reached the Moluccas and the rich Sunda Islands, as 
yet only known by report. Vespucci did his utmost to attain 
a result that would have brought him the fame that now 
surrounds the name of Magalhaens. But he did not suspect 
what the latter knew, that a monstrous ocean separates the 
New World from the east coast of Asia. 

15 



2 26 A Century of Discovery. 

After a long delay in the Bissagos Islands off the coast of 
West Africa and a tedious voyage, the sailors on the i6th of 
August first sighted a smiling coast at 5 degrees south lati- 
tude, and drew near to a peninsula, which, in honour of the 
saint whose day it happened to be, they called San Roque, 
the name which the east point of South America still bears. 
The aborigines here showed themselves v&xy hostile, attacking 
and devouring some sailors who ventured into the interior. 
Without stopping to chastise them the ships continued their 
course towards the south, landing every now and then and 
carrying on friendly intercourse with the Indians. One can 
still trace the stations of the discoverers in the names of the 
principal points, which they always called after the saints' 
days. Thus, on the 28th of August, they arrived at Cape Agos- 
tinho, which had already been discovered though not named 
by Pinzon. On the 4th of October they found the mouth 
of the river San Francisco ; on the ist of November the Bay 
de Todos os Santos, where now is situated the town of Bahia ; 
on the 2Tst of December the Cape of St. Thomas ; and 
on the 1st of Janauary, 1502, the Bay of Rio Janeiro (the 
river of St. Januarius), which they took for the mouth of a 
river. They stayed for some time in the Bay of Cananea, 26 
south latitude, erroneously stated by Vespucci to be 32 
south latitude. Vespucci describes the natives of this pro- 
vince to be fine people, of a reddish colour, who disfigured 
themselves by piercing their lips for the purpose of inserting 
ornaments made of a blue stone or of bone. This most un- 
becoming custom — Vespucci once saw in the lip of a man a 
stone of half a hand's breadth, and weighing seven ounces 
— procured for these Indians in later times the name of 
Botocuden (cork wearers). They had their goods in common, 
and lived without religion a thoroughly sensual life, frequently 
interrupted, however, by wars with the neighbouring races. 
Those who were conquered were devoured, and Vespucci 



Amerigo Vespucci. 227 

iieard a man boast that he had eaten 300 men. In the huts too 
the Portuguese often found salted human flesh. The splendid 
climate, which was rendered clear by almost unvarying east 
winds, made the Indians so healthy that, according to Ves- 
pucci, they often lived to be a hundred and fifty. Finding no 
precious metals on the whole of this coast, the sailors were 
-eager to return, but were persuaded by Vespucci to make 
another attempt to find the western passage to India. They 
again set out on the 15 th of February, and steered directly 
to the south-east, not allowing themselves to be deterred by 
the increasing cold. On the 3rd of April they encountered a 
fearful storm, which lasted several days. During this they dis- 
covered an inhospitable coast, which the ships followed towards 
the south for twenty miles. At last the sky cleared, but the 
storm and the cold had deprived every one of any desire to 
examine more nearly the coast, which, according to Vespucci's 
reckoning, lay about 55 south latitude. What this land could. 
have been it is impossible to decide with certainty. Most pro- 
bably it was the most southerly part of Patagonia, close by the 
Straits of Magalhaens. Every one on board was glad when 
they turned round, steering to the north-east for the coast of 
Africa, but it was not until after much contending with the 
winds and waves that they reached it on the loth of May. 
In Sierra Leone they were obliged to set fire to one of their 
ships, which had become perfectly useless. The other two 
entered the harbour of Lisbon on the 7th of September, 1502, 
after an absence of sixteen months. 

King Emanuel, in spite of the empty hands with which the 
discoverers returned, was well pleased with their perseverance 
and with the large extent of coast explored by them. He 
immediately prepared a new squadron to complete the dis- 
covery and to seek the passage to the Moluccas, of the 
-existence of which they felt certain. Of the six ships which 
set sail on the loth of May, under the orders of Gonzalo 

15—2 



228 A Century of Discovery. 

Coelho, one was commanded by Amerigo Vespucci. But the 
great hopes that were aroused by this expedition were lament- 
ably disappointed. Coelho, against the advice of Vespucci, 
kept along the coast of Africa as far as Sierra Leone, instead 
of sailing to the west, direct from the Cape Verde Islands. 
In crossing the ocean he discovered, in 3 degrees south lati- 
tude, an island of some size, which afterwards received the 
name of Fernando de Moronha, after a captain to whom it 
was presented by the King. The commander's ship having 
run upon rock's, Coelho gave Vespucci orders, with a large 
boat and a few sailors, to explore the island and see whether 
there was a secure harbour for the fleet. This commission 
Vespucci executed, and found on the island, which was well 
watered and inhabited by countless birds, a spacious and 
well-protected harbour. But in vain did he wait here for the 
squadron. After a week of painful suspense, he was fetched 
off by his ship, which at the same time brought the announce- 
ment that Coelho, his own vessel having been sunk, had' 
sailed with the remaining ships farther towards the west. 
Very much hurt, Vespucci followed him to All Saints' Bay,, 
the appointed meeting-place, and waited there for two months. 
But in vain, so at length he determined to leave. On his own- 
responsibility he sailed along the coast until he reached about 
18 degrees south latitude, and there on a favourable spot 
founded a little fort, in which he left behind twenty-four men 
with provisions for six months. Then he started on the return 
voyage and reached Lisbon on the i8th of June, 1504. The- 
remaining ships of the fleet came in singly one after another, 
without any valuable cargoes and without having discovered 
the western passage, or indeed having sought it with anything 
like earnestness. After that the Portuguese many times visited 
the Brazils, either to seek for the passage to India, or to pro- 
cure a cargo of the valuable Brazilian wood. But the first 



Amerigo Vespucci. 229 

colony which they established was Pernambuco, which they 
built in 1526. 

But the displeasure of Emanuel, which fell upon all who 
took part in the unhappy undertaking, was the cause of Ves- 
pucci's emigration. He accepted a call from the Castilian 
court, which made him great promises, and in the spring of 
1505 entered Spain. It was intended to employ him in an 
expedition which, under the command of Vincent Yanez Pin- 
ion, was to visit the new-found southern continent. Probably 
the desire to find the western passage was the real cause of 
the scheme. Vespucci himself from Seville urged on the pre- 
paration of the squadron, but for some unknown reason the 
plan was never carried out, and in 1508 Vespucci was ap- 
pointed to the newly-created ofhce of royal pilot, with the 
considerable revenue of 200 ducats. In this new position it was 
his duty to examine the pilots of the West Indian vessels in 
their use of the astronomical instruments, and to make a trust- 
worthy map of the New World, in which should be inserted 
the newly-discovered countries according to the accounts 
brought back by the discoverers. This very important and 
honourable position, which made his name known in distant 
circles, he continued to occupy until his death, which oc- 
curred in Seville, on the 22nd of February, 15 12. Vespucci 
left behind him a widow but no children. He died convinced 
that the New World was a part of Asia, and had no suspicion 
that it was an independent continent, which by a wonderful 
whim of fate would immortalise his name. 

We can entirely clear him from the design attributed to him 
of endeavouring to lessen Columbus's glory, or to substitute 
his own name for that of the great discoverer. On the con- 
trary, he was always on the best terms with Columbus. This 
is clearly proved by a letter which Columbus, on the 5th of 
February, 1505, addressed to his son Diego, and in which he 
tells him that Vespucci, who has just gone to the Castilian court, 



230 A Century of Discovery. 

will labour in his (Columbus's) interest. "Vespucci," he writes,, 
"has always been very friendly to me. Fortune has been 
unkind to the worthy man, as to so many others. He too 
has not received the reward due to his services." The 
sons of the Admiral never showed the least ill-will towards 
Vespucci, and Ferdinand Columbus, the biographer of his 
father, never once mentions him. Las Casas is the first 
person who expresses his displeasure at the adoption of the 
name America, but even he does not give the least intima- 
tion that he considers Vespucci at all to blame. 

The reason of the injustice done to Columbus arose from 
the ignorance that the West Indies and the land discovered in 
the south had anything to do with each other. The mistake 
of Columbus, who took the West Indies for Japan and its neigh- 
bouring islands, suggested the idea that that southern land, the 
size of which was more clearly proved by every expedition,, 
was a completely independent country, a gigantic island, 
separated somewhere from the West Indies and the east 
coast of Asia by an arm of the sea. As late as the year 1530 
the maps of the world show this channel, or at any rate a gap 
between South and North America, Whilst the name of 
Columbus is indissolubly connected with Hispaniola, Cuba, 
and the other West Indian islands, little or nothing was heard 
of his third and fourth voyages, which carried him to the 
coast of the mainland, and therefore people were perplexed to 
find a name for it. Amerigo Vespucci was the first to describe 
the nature of the country and its inhabitants, which he did in 
a series of " Voyages," and his name therefore naturally oc- 
curred to people. 

A letter addressed by him, either at the end of 1502 or the 
beginning of 1503, to Lorenzo di Pier Francisco de' Medici, a 
member of a collateral branch of the celebrated princely 
house, did not reach Florence until after the death of Lorenzo. 



Amerigo VespiLCci. 231 

(Lorenzo died March loth, 1503), and so fell into other hands. 
In this letter Vespucci gave his friend a concise account of 
his adventures from June 4th, 1501 (the time of his stay at 
Cape Verde), till September 7th, 1502 (the time of his return 
from the first Portuguese voyage). The interesting nature of 
this letter, vi^hich contained much that was new, led to its pub- 
lication. This took place in Paris, 1503, in Latin, and it made 
such a noise that a number of editions and translations in 
German and Italian followed. This result caused the publi- 
cation, certainly either against the will or without the know- 
ledge of the author, of a number of other letters of Vespucci,. 
which he had addressed to Pietro Soderini in Florence. They 
appeared translated into Latin from a French translation, and 
were collected into a continuous whole under the title of "The 
Fourth Voyage," in 1507, in St. Die in Lorraine. The original 
compilers, of this work, whether out of ignorance or with an 
evil intention, allowed a number of errors, mutilations, and 
interpolations to creep in, which place Vespucci's voyages in 
a completely false light. 

Among the early voyages with Ojeda, which he describes 
to Soderini in two long letters, there are two remarkable ex- 
peditions, the second of which in many points appears identical 
with that of Pinzon, and there is the most utter confusion in 
the dates, so that, resting upon these voyages, it was for a long 
time declared that Amerigo had reached the mainland before 
Columbus, and it is still uncertain whether or not he took 
part in Pinzon's voyage in 1499-1500. The errors have been 
more clearly manifested by the discovery of two earlier 
letters, written by him to Lorenzo Medici on July i8th, 
1500, and June 4th, 1501. These only mention one voyage 
in the Castilian service, and are tolerably exact in the 
dates. 

The rapid circulation of Vespucci's letters had closely 
connected the name of the Florentine with the great con- 



232 A Century of Discovery. 

tinent in the south with which most men had become ac- 
quainted from those writings, and it was natural to name the 
land after him which as yet had no other name, and of whose 
discovery by Columbus they were ignorant. This was tirst 
done by Martin Hylacomilus (Waldseemiiller), a native of 
Freiburg in Breisgau, at that time a bookseller and teacher of 
geography at St. Die, where, under the protection of Duke 
Rene the Second of Lorraine, he was engaged in the editing 
of the works of Ptolemy. 

In 1507 he published an "Introduction to Cosmography," 
which he dedicated to the Emperor Maximilian I., and 
to which he added a Latin edition of the "Voyages." In 
this work he says : " The fourth continent may very fit- 
tingly be called Amerigo — that is, the land of Amerigo, 
or America — because Amerigo discovered it." The pro- 
position received support. Little geographical treatises, 
which appeared in 1509, 15 12, and 15 15 in Strasburg and 
Nuremburg, repeated it, and in 1520 the name America first 
appeared in the maps of the world which the monk Camers 
published in Vienna from the drawings of Peter Apianus 
(Bienervitz). The name indeed is limited to what is now 
Brazil, and by the side of it stands the remark, "This land was 
discovered in 1497, with the adjacent islands, by the Genoese 
Columbus." 

But the new name quickly naturalised itself, and soon was 
adopted for the whole south mainland. Indeed, as advancing 
discoveries proved that it, together with the West Indies and 
the northern mainland, was a great division of the earth, the 
well-sounding name America was employed for the whole 
continent, and thus the just claim of the name Columbia was 
set aside. 

While we deplore the injustice done to the memory of the 
great discoverer, we need not let it mislead us into attributing 
to the fortunate author a wilful appropriation of another's 



Amerigo VespiLcci. 233 

fame, and thus become guilty of another injustice. Rather 
let us accord him due honour for his discoveries and explora- 
tions in the New World, and do nothing to lessen his reputa- 
tion as a man of honour, to which Columbus himself bears 

witness. 



CHAPTER IV. 

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 

When Ojeda, in 1510, left the town of St. Sebastian near the 
mouth of the Atrato in Darien, in order to procure aid from 
Hispaniola, he placed over those whom he left behind Francisco 
Pizarro, afterwards so famous, and extracted a promise from 
them all to remain fifty days in their miserable position, for 
he hoped in that time to bring them assistance. Pizarro 
waited in vain for his return ; and at last, after the number 
of those under his command had melted down to about sixty, 
the largest number which the two shattered ships could hold, 
he set sail for Hispaniola. Shortly afterwards one of the 
vessels was wrecked, and sank with all on board before the 
eyes of those on board the other ship. A few days later they 
unexpectedly met a stately vessel coming towards them. It 
was commanded by the Advocate Martin Hernandez de En- 
ciso, who had gained considerable wealth in Hispaniola, and 
whom Ojeda had enticed to assist in the founding of the 
colony on the Atrato by appointing him governor. 

After long preparations and many hindrances on the part 
of Don Diego Columbus, who laid claim to Central America, 
he had at length taken 150 men, a number of animals, and a 
good stock of provisions and arms to the new colony, which 
he hoped to find in a prosperous condition. Instead of this, 
thirty half-starved men came to meet him on a crazy ship, 
these being all that remained of the colonists. In spite of the 
miserable accounts which he received from them, he determined 



Vasco Nunez de Balboa. . 235 

to re-establish the forsaken colony, and forced the fugitives to- 
unite with the 550 fresh men whom he was bringing with 
him from Hispaniola. Among these there was one of the most 
distinguished of the Spanish discoverers. 

Vasco Nunez de Balboa, born 1475, at Xeres, near Badajoz,. 
in the province of Estremadura, sprang from a rich and re- 
spectable family, though in his early youth he had squandered 
his wealth, and by his giddy pranks had forfeited his good 
name. Like many others, he sought to recover both by join- 
ing in the expedition to the New World which promised to 
courageous fortune-hunters fame and spoil in rich measure. 
He was a companion of Rodrigo de Bastidas, who in the year 
1500 explored a part of the north-west coast of South 
America, and returned to Spain with a rich spoil of gold and 
pearls. 

As was the case with all who took part in it, this expedi- 
tion produced for Balboa a little property, which he spent in 
settling in Hispaniola. But here also his extravagance and. 
love of gambling made him a poor man ; and, pressed by 
many creditors, he soon found himself in the greatest dis- 
tress, from which he knew not how to escape except by flight. 
Now for the protection of creditors it had been rendered ex- 
ceedingly difficult for any one to quit the islands, and Balboa 
could not find means to carry out his projected retreat. 

At last he succeeded in smuggling himself on to the ship 
which Enciso had fitted out for Darien. He is said to have been 
carried on board concealed in a cask, and to have remained 
there for some days. When he at last ventured forth Enciso 
was very unpleasantly surprised ; for, by the laws of the 
Spanish colony of Hispaniola, the captain who assisted in the 
flight of a debtor became himself responsible to the creditor. 
However, he did not carry out his threat of setting Balboa 
on shore on the first desert island, fearing the bodily 
strength and the well-known audacity of his unwished- 



236 A Century of Discovery. 

for companion, but tried to comfort himself with the hope 
that Balboa would prove himself of value in the new settle- 
ment. 

The arrival at the forsaken San Sebastian was not auspi- 
cious. Enciso's ship ran upon the rocks, and with its valuable 
cargo sank so quickly that it was all the crew could do to 

I save even their lives. Thus the settlers had from the beginning 
to struggle with hunger, and in the unceasing conflicts with 
the natives, who made use of poisoned arrows, their numbers 
rapidly diminished. It was no wonder therefore that de- 
■spondency seized upon them. Balboa, however, by proposing 
to cross over to the west coast of the Gulf of Darien, inspired 
them with new courage. 

On his earlier visit in the ship of Bastidas he had found 
there a rich country, friendly people, and handsome towns. 
The proposal was carried out, and all Balboa's statements were 
proved correct. After an easy victory over the Indians, the 
adventurers took possession of a large village, where they 
found provisions in abundance and a considerable quantity of 
gold. 

In gratitude for the protection that had been granted to 
them by the miraculous image at Seville, they named the new 
town Maria del Antigua. This indeed was not situated in 
jl the province of New Andalusia, which Ojeda and Enciso had 

been charged to colonise, but west of the mouth of the 
Atrato, in the province of the Knight Diego de Nicuesa, 
which embraced the whole east coast of Central America, 
from the Atrato to Cape Gracios a Dios, and bore the pompous 
name of Castilla del Oro. 

This circumstance was made use of by those among the 

II settlers hostile to Nicuesa to deprive him of the com.mand. 
i! Vasco Nunez Balboa was chosen in his place until the King's 

pleasure should be known. It was the first step to fortune 
made by the bold unscrupulous adventurer. The unexpected 



Vasco Nunez de Balboa. 237- 

arrival of two well-manned and well-provisioned ships, pre- 
pared at Nicuesa's expense at Hispaniola, and now on their 
way to him, had put it into the settlers' heads to ask him to- 
come and take the command. 

The messengers found him and his people reduced to a 
miserable condition at Nombre de Dios, not far from Aspion- 
vali. The band of settlers, diminished by every possible pri- 
vation, greeted the invitation to the rapidly rising town of 
Santa Maria del Antigua as deliverance from certain destruc- 
tion, and Nicuesa himself arranged their transmission with 
much pleasure. 

But among the men whom he sent in advance there were 
some whom he had wronged or cruelly punished for disobe- 
dience. They excited the people of Santa Maria against the 
new ruler, who had aroused general displeasure by errors of 
judgment and careless speeches. He allowed himself to be 
persuaded by Balboa, who feigned the greatest friendship for 
him, to submit his claims to an election. It turned out un- 
favourably for Nicuesa. Almost unanimously Balboa was 
raised to the head of the settlement, and with the proviso 
that the choice should be ratified by the King, he undertook 
the government of Castilla del Oro. Although he had pro- 
mised his protection to the deposed governor, he yet allowed 
the rebels to force the hated Nicuesa on board an unseaworthy 
ship, with sixteen men who remained faithful to him. Nothing 
was ever heard of the unfortunate men. Probably they and 
their miserable bark were swallowed up by the waves. 

Thus through a series of intrigues and acts of violence Bal- 
boa found himself ruler of one of the richest lands of America 
hardly a year after he had escaped on board Enciso's ship a 
fugitive in the utmost misery. He succeeded, however, in 
making men forget the unworthy means through which he 
had obtained the government by the power and wisdom with 
which he conducted it. All the best features of his great 



238 A Century of Discovery. 

•character now came to the front. His manner of life was 
simple and devoid of all show ; he was generous and liberal, 
bold in his schemes ; the valour he displayed in contests with 
his enemies was almost superhuman, while he was mild and 
humane to the conquered. The dominion he gained and 
maintained over the minds of 300 lawless men borders on the 
wonderful. By the force of his example he carried them from 
one enterprise to another, where danger and hardship, but 
not rewards, were alike to all. 

The inhabitants of Central America were superior to the 
harmless Indians of Hispaniola and to the men-eating Caribs. 
Certainly on account of the warm climate they went com- 
pletely naked and lived in simple huts, but they were divided 
into various ranks. They honoured the sun and moon as 
divinities, and the care with which- they embalmed the bodies 
of the dead makes it probable that they believed in an exist- 
ence after death. Thus they formed a connecting link be- 
tween the inhabitants of the Antilles, who were little raised 
above the animals, and the highly-developed people whom 
the Spaniards afterwards met on the tablelands of Anahuac 
and Quito. 

All these tribes were fond of gold ornaments, and the 
nobles among them were served from gold vessels. Therefore 
it was easy for the Spaniards to collect considerable quantities 
of the precious metal, and by constant attacks and surprises 
they soon increased their treasure. On one of these expedi- 
tions Balboa received from the son of a Prince, who was as- 
tonished at the Spaniards' thirst for gold, the first news of an 
ocean which lay not far off towards the south-west, beyond a 
ridge of mountains, and which was visited by ships little 
inferior in size to those of Spain. The richest gold lands were 
said to lie on the coasts of this great sea. Balboa immedi- 
ately divined that this must be the sea that washed the shores 
of India, but the whole importance of the news he could not 



Vasco Ntmez de Balboa. 239 

appreciate. He burned with the desire to make his name 
immortal by the discovery of the new ocean, and his followers, 
whose thirst for gold was whetted by the Prince's descrip- 
tions, showed themselves ready to accompany him through 
all dangers and difficulties. But the plan could not be carried 
out for a long time. The subjugation of the neighbouring 
Indians and the suppression of a dangerous conspiracy formed 
by them^ which was discovered and frustrated by the faithful- 
ness of Balboa's Indian wife, took up a considerable time, 
and until this was accomplished it seemed unadvisable to 
divide the little company. 

It was not until reinforcements had arrived from Hispan- 
iola — whose Governor, Don Diego Columbus, the crafty Bal- 
boa acknowledged as his superior — that the expedition to the 
Western Ocean could be thought of On September ist, 1513, 
they began their march from Maria del Antigua. Balboa 
himself led the little army, which consisted of 190 Spaniards 
and 600 Indian bearers, and was accompanied by several of 
the formidable bloodhounds. The precise point of departure 
was Careta, a place on the coast a few miles from the settle- 
ment, whose Prince was friendly to the Spaniards, and had 
been baptised, receiving the name of Don Fernando. The 
distance between the shores of the two oceans measures at 
this point scarcely thirty miles, and would therefore under 
ordinary circumstances be accomplished in three or four days' 
march. But on this narrow strip of land were crowded to- 
.gether the greatest difficulties and obstructions. 

The mountain range indeed was not formidable from its 
height, but its slopes were covered with dense primeval forests 
and poisonous vapours arose from the swampy ground tra- 
versed by numerous sluggish rivers. Added to this there 
was the necessity of forcing a passage through the territory 
of various Indian tribes. It was almost three weeks from the 
time Balboa and his men left Careta (September 6th) before 



240 A Centu7'y of Discovery. 

they reached the neighbourhood of the coast. On the 25th of 
September his Indian guides informed him that from a neigh- 
bouring hill the sea could be seen. He wished to be the first to 
enjoy the sight, so he climbed the hill alone. Arrived at the 
top he saw close beneath him a bay with many inlets towards 
the south-west, opening into the boundless ocean. Overcome 
with joy Balboa fell upon his knees and praised God, who had 
favoured him with so great a revelation. 

On the 29th of September he reached the shore, and bear- 
ing a banner upon which was emblazoned the Virgin and 
Child, he waded up to his knees into the water and solemnly, 
in the names of the Kings of Arragon and Castile, took pos- 
session " of these southern seas, lands, shores, harbours, and 
islands, with all that they contained, their kingdoms and their 
marches, and swore to defend them against any foreign claim, 
for the monarchs of Castile present and future, to whom be- 
longs the empire and dominion of all these Indies, the islands 
together with the north and south mainland, with their seas 
from the north pole to the south pole on both sides of the 
equator, within and without the tropics of Cancer and Capri- 
corn, all being by right the possession of their majesties and 
their successors." Then he made each of the Spaniards con- 
vince himself by the salt taste that it was the shore of an 
ocean, and sign his name to a deed drawn up by the notary, 
Valderrabano, formally taking possession. 

The bay which Balboa then reached still bears the name 
of San Miguel, from the day on which it was discovered. Its 
shores are extraordinarily rich in pearls. The Spaniards col- 
lected a great number, among them some singularly large 
specimens, but quite dull, because the Indians knew no way 
of opening the shells but by fire and smoke. They were 
mostly found on the shores of some neighbouring islands, 
later named the Pearl Islands. Bad weather prevented Bal- 
boa from taking possession of them, and after several weeks* 



Vasco Ntmez de Balboa. 241 

sojourn with the chiefs of the country, whom he attached to 
him partly by show of power and partly by friendly concilia- 
tion, he determined on his return. He chose a different 
way, but encountered equal difficulties. The opposition 
was so great that he tried to overcome it by accusing some 
of the chiefs of treason and criminality, and condemning 
them to be torn to pieces by bloodhounds. This horrible 
punishment spread terror far and wide, but we should do him 
injustice if in our detestation of Balboa's bloody cruelty we 
forgot that he did not act thus wantonly, but in the hope of 
breaking down all opposition ; and that he chose as his victims 
those who were hated and feared by their countrymen. Com- 
pared with those who followed him indeed he appears mild 
and humane. 

On January 19th, 15 14, Balboa returned to Santa Maria, 
where he found everything prospering. In March he sent 
the great news of his discovery to Spain, together with 20,ooO' 
ducats and 200 of the most beautiful pearls, which was the 
royal share of the booty. By such dazzling proofs of his 
fitness he hoped to wipe out the stain which rested on his 
accession to power, and to stifle the complaints of his enemies. 
And indeed the stir which his news excited was quite remark- 
able. Learned men recognised the mistake Columbus had 
made in supposing he had reached the east coast of Asia,, 
while an unknown ocean lay between it and the new continent. 
Still it was possible that west of Cuba it might be connected 
with the Atlantic Ocean. 

In the Spanish nation there broke out a new and violent 
attack of the gold fever. To reward the skill and success of 
Balboa King Ferdinand appointed him Adelantado of the 
newly-discovered South Sea — the name given to the new 
ocean, Balboa having crossed the Isthmus of Central America 
from north to south — and made him Governor of Coiba on 
the Atlantic Ocean, and Panama on the South Sea, thus com- 

16 



242 A Century of Discovery. 

pensating him for certain enactments made previous to the 
arrival of his messenger. Enciso and the friends of the unfor- 
tunate Nicuesa had accused Balboa at court of having unjustly 
seized the governorship, and had excited a strong feeling 
against the traitor, as they named him. Ferdinand, desirous 
of securing civil order to the hopeful colony, had appointed 
Pedrarias de Avila, a man of sixty, its governor, as successor 
to Nicuesa, thereby setting aside as illegal the rule of Balboa. 
Pedrarias set sail on April nth, 15 14, with twenty-two ships 
and 1200 men, and landed on June 30 at Santa Maria. 

He was unfit for his post, but no opposition was offered to 
him, and he obtained possession of the reins of government 
without difficulty. Almost immediately he began a secret 
examination of Balboa, in the hope of gaining over to his 
side the man who had the greatest influence among the 
colonists and the surrounding Indians. But the cunning of 
Balboa was too much for him, and the examination ended in 
his acquittal. The rule of Pedrarias was altogether very un- 
imfortunate. The colony was visited by intense heat, and the 
produce of the land was not sufficient to support the increased 
number of Spaniards. Many died of hunger in the streets of 
the town ; others perished in the plundering raids which want 
drove them to make upon "the Indians, whom of course this 
kind of treatment turned from friends into enemies. 

No wonder that the colonists wished for Balboa's rule back 
again. This becoming known to Avila filled him with hatred 
of the great discoverer, which increased when he found that 
Balboa had been appointed by the King governor of two 
provinces, which were thus withdrawn from his immediate 
jurisdiction, although Balboa was to remain his subordinate. 
However, he kept up an appearance of friendship, and even 
betrothed to Balboa one of his daughters left behind in Spain, 
but secretly he was brooding over plans for his destruction. 
Balboa at last succeeded in obtaining his permission to build 



Vasco Ntinez de Balboa. 243 

.some ships on the South Sea, in which to visit the gold lands. 
With great trouble the ships were conveyed in separate pieces 
over the isthmus and there put together, and Balboa was just 
ready to put off, when on some urgent pretext he was sum- 
moned by Avila to Santa Maria. There he was thrown into 
chainsj and the accusation brought against him that he was 
intending to rebel and set up an independent government on 
the shores of the South Sea. At the same time the old 
charges of rebelling against Nicuesa and supplanting Enciso 
were brought up again. The judges being already gained 
over, pronounced sentence of death on Balboa and four of his 
adherents in January, 15 17, and at Avila's command it was 
carried out at Ada, a little offshoot from Santa Maria. 

Thus the Spaniards robbed themselves of the man most 
■fit to explore the coast of the South Sea just at the m.oment 
when he was on the point of accomplishing the task, which 
afterwards fell to the share of the rough Pizarro. By his 
unjust death Balboa atoned for the many crimes which had 
stained his life. And the heroism of his character and the 
glorious results which his great qualities enabled him to achieve 
ihrow an undying charm around his memory. 



16 — 2 



CHAPTER V. 

FERNAM DE MAGALHAENS. 

By Balboa's discoveries some of the mistaken ideas were 
cleared up which until then had been entertained with regard 
to the New World. It was now known that the Antilles were 
not Japan, and Darien was not Malacca, and that between 
Europe and Asia there lay a great continent, separated from 
Europe by the Atlantic and from Asia by Balboa's great 
ocean. But to most minds it appeared perfectly incompatible 
with the purpose of the world's creation that these two great 
oceans should be completely separated from one another by 
a large continent stretching from north to south, and that 
such an almost insurmountable obstacle should be placed in 
the way of communication between the two civilised parts of the 
earth. Every one was convinced that there must be a strait, 
possibly in a direct line between Spain and India, which united 
the two oceans and would be a most convenient path for trade- 
To discover this strait was the unceasing object of the 
Spanish discoverers. Their zeal stirred up the still open 
question concerning the possession of the Moluccas. The 
mistaken measurement of the earth assumed, as we have 
before mentioned, that the boundary of the territory granted 
to the Portuguese by the Pope (i8o degrees east of the Canary 
Isles) was in the Bay of Bengal, and the Spaniards were angry 
that the Portuguese had overstepped it by their conquests in 
Further India and in the Sunda Islands. With anxiety and 
vexation they saw the Portuguese discoveries extending 



Fernaryi de Magalhaens. 245 

steadily towards the east, and approaching nearer and nearer 
to the Spice Islands, concerning which they were fully con- 
vinced that they lay on the Spanish side of the globe. Yet 
they were not in a condition to resist these encroachments 
unless they could find a direct western route to these islands, 
for to pursue the Portuguese by the route round Africa and 
to seek to pass them in the Indian Ocean would render a 
desperate struggle certain, the result of which was by no 
means sure. 

Columbus therefore sought this passage in the neighbour- 
hood of Darien ; some years later hopes were entertained 
that it would be discovered in the Gulf of Mexico, and later 
still Cortes explored the whole east coast of North America 
from Florida to Labrador with the same object. But in vain. 
Still more zealously was South America examined for the 
same purpose, that being for a long time looked upon as an 
island. All the numerous expeditions along its west coast 
had the same object, but without the desired result. Still 
they did not give up hope. 

Juan Diaz de Solis, who had accompanied Pinzon on his 
third voyage in 1509, thought, in 15 16, he had discovered 
the long-sought- for passage, when he found about 35 degrees 
south latitude the east coast of America suddenly turn to- 
wards the west and continue in that direction for miles. But 
he recognised his mistake when the water lost its saltness ; 
he had run into the great fresh water estuary of the two 
gigantic rivers Parana and Uruguay, and which afterwards 
received the name of Rio de la Plata. He landed on the 
shores of this gulf and was killed and eaten by the wild 
Indians. His horrified companions at once turned round 
■without accomplishing the task which Solis had set himself. 

But a greater man soon followed in his footsteps, Fernam 
de Magalhaens, better known under the Spanish form of his 
name, Magellan, was born about the year 1480, in Oporto, of 



246 A Century of Discovery. 

an old noble Portuguese family. We know nothing of his 
youth. Like other young men of his rank, he probably knew 
something of struggles with the infidels and of dangerous 
voyages. It is certain that in his early life he went to India 
in the service of the Portuguese crown, and there distinguished 
himself. Though his personal appearance was mean, he sooa 
brought himself into notice by his boldness and activity. He 
served as an officer in the great fleet which, in 151 1, Alfonso 
de Albuquerque led against Malacca, and took part in the 
taking and defence of that important town. 

The next year he took part in the war against the infidels 
hi Africa. At Azamor he received a wound in the thigh from 
a lance, which made him lame for the rest of his life. Having 
come to court, in order to beg for an appointment in reward 
for the services he had rendered, he was at once dismissed be- 
cause he had presented himself without leave, and sent back 
to Africa. Some time afterwards, finding all his endeavours 
fruitless, he determined to forsake for ever his native land, in 
which he had been publicly disgraced by having a groundless 
charge of embezzlement brought iigainst him. Pie formally 
gave up all his rights in Portugal, and on October 20th, iS^7r 
removed his residence to Seville. A short time afterwards he 
married a daughter of a Portuguese named Diego Barbosa,. 
who had settled in Seville. 

Magalhaens was in possession of information which he 
thought he could make more use of in his new home than in 
his old. P'rancisco Serrao, the first of all the Portuguese who 
reached the Moluccas (15 12), and who had spent some years 
there, was his greatest friend. PVom him he had received 
letters containing a detailed account of his experiences. The 
distances given by Serrao were, according to the fashion of dis- 
coverers, exaggerated, and firmly convinced Magalhaens that 
the delightful islands which brought forth the costly products 
of the east might be fairly claimed by the Spaniards. Pie con- 



Fernam de Magalhaeus. 24/ 

suited about it with an an astronomer named Falciro, who had 
also emigrated from Portugal, and he arrived at the same con- 
clusion. Together they applied to the Honourable Council 
for India, offering their services for the discovery and settle- 
ment of the Moluccas. 

In February, 181 5, they arrived at the royal court of Valla- 
dolid, and began their negotiation with Fonseca, the well- 
known President of the Council, The prudence and caution 
natural to this man would probably have prevented these 
plans being adopted had not Magalhacns assured him most 
confidently that he could find the desired passage. Being- 
questioned more closely, he stated that he had seen it marked 
on a large m»ap of the world which was kept in the treasury 
of the King of Portugal, and which had been drawn up by 
the Nuremberger Martin Behaim. 

Now it is not at all impossible that this man, besides the 
voyage in which he accompanied Cam, 1484, may have taken 
part in other expeditions, and perhaps have even become ac- 
quainted with the coast of South America. But in the year 
1492, when he prepared the globe for the Nurembergcrs, he 
appears to have had no knowledge of the American coasts, 
and if we refer to a map of the world added by him to an 
edition of Ptolemy published in the year 1507, we find the 
extreme limit of the continent fixed. At the Rio de Cananca, 
32 degrees south latitude, and on the other side of a broad 
gulf is represented a belt of large islands evidently drawn 
from fancy. 

It is most probable that Magalhaens invented the story when 
he saw that, without pretending to a knowledge of the shorter 
way to the Moluccas, he should not obtain the appointment 
he desired. He trusted that he should be able to justify his 
assertions, if fortune were not adverse. At any rate the careful 
investigation to which afterwards he subjected every bay along 
the coast of South America makes him appear quite uncertain 



248 A Century of Discovery. 

of the position of the desired strait. However, he obtained 
his object, Fonseca was quite won over and seconded most 
warmly the plans of the sailor who was in possession of such 
important information. 

When Magalhaens had made up his mind to relinquish his 
claim to the rank of Admiral he succeeded in concluding a very 
favourable treaty (March 22nd, 15 18). The crown promised to 
fit out five good ships and man them with 234 skilful sailors, 
whom it undertook to pay for two years. All other seamen were 
forbidden for ten years to make use of the passage that 
should be discovered by Magalhaens. To him the command 
of the fleet was committed, and the rank of Adelantado and 
the governorship of all lands that he should discover were 
promised to him. Of the revenues that should flow to the 
crown the twentieth part was to be paid to the discoverer, 
upon whom also was conferred the right to import into 
Spain, yearly, spices to the value of 1000 ducats, and to 
receive a fifth part of the produce of the voyage. Finally, 
of the islands discovered after the crown had chosen 
six, the seventh and eighth were to be allotted to Magal- 
haens, that he might receive the fifteenth part of their 
produce. 

Full of zeal Magalhaens set to work to prepare his squadron. 
Soon the five ships lay in the harbour of Seville, ready to 
sail. They were th.&Trmidad, which Magalhaens himself com- 
manded ; the San Antonio, under Juan de Cartagena; the 
Conception, under Caspar de Ouesada ; the Victoria, under 
Luis de Mendoza ; and the Santiago, under the Portuguese 
Juan Serrao, probably a relation of the discoverer of the 
Moluccas. But the departure was delayed by all sorts of 
jealousies which sprang up against the foreigner, and which 
could only be overcome with the greatest difficulty. The 
Portuguese too put in a protest against the undertaking as 
infringing their rights, and their consul in Seville sought by 



Fernam de Magalhaens. 249 

promises and threatenings to move his faithless countryman 
from his purpose. But he remained immovable, and success- 
fully overcame all the difficulties that lay in his way. 

On the 20th of September, 15 19, the squadron left San 
Lucan de Barremeda, a harbour at the mouth of the Guadal- 
quiver, and on the 2nd of October it passed the Canary 
Islands. Then it took a westerly course, until on the 29th of 
November it reached San Agostinho, and thence went south- 
ward along the coast. In January, 1520, they passed the 
mouth of the Rio de la Plata, after which they were in a per- 
fectly new region. Magalhaens then kept close to the coast, 
and narrowly examined every bay which offered the least 
possibility of a passage. On the 24th of March they reached 
the Gulf of St. Matthias, a few days later St. George's Bay, and 
at the end of the month a narrow inlet which is now called Port 
Desire (47° 50' south latitude), but to which he gave the name 
of Puerto de los Patos (Goose Harbour), because on its coasts 
and on the island at its entrance there were an incredible 
number of penguins. 

Meanwhile the southern winter had begun, and it was un- 
wise to continue the voyage. But since there was a want of 
wood and water in Puerto de los Patos they went on until 
they found (49 degrees south latitude) a very convenient 
harbour, which received the name of St. Julian. Here a most 
dangerous conspiracy broke out. Whilst on the way Magal- 
haens had been obliged to place Juan de Cartagena, his second 
in command, in confinement, on account of mutinous conduct. 
Arrived at Port Julian he was set free by Quesada and Men- 
doza, and on Easter Monday three ships, the San Antonio, 
the Conception, and the Victoria, were in open rebellion against 
Magalhaens. Their captains accused him of having overstepped 
the royal orders and of having arrogated to himself unlawful 
powers. Magalhaens saw that all his authority would be at 
an end if he yielded, and that he should never succeed in ac- 



250 A Century of Discovery. 

complishing his dangerous and difficult undertaking with 
mutinous and untrustworthy crews. He adopted the sternest 
measures, a course to which his hard nature incHned him. He 
had Mendoza stabbed, whom he looked upon as the soul of 
the conspiracy. Edward Barbosa, a brother-in-law of the 
commander^ immediately took possession of the Victoria, and 
Magalhaens himself, who with a wise foresight had placed 
himself with the two faithful ships at the entrance of the har- 
bour, by a charge of artillery compelled the other two ships to 
surrender. Stern justice was exercised towards the heads of 
the conspiracy. Quesada was condemned, Mendoza's body 
was quartered, Cartagena and a priest who had taken part 
in the mutiny were landed on a barren shore. The sailors, 
whose services could not be dispensed with, were pardoned ; 
but the bloody scenes had greatly terrified them. Hence- 
forth every one trembled before the stern inexorable man, 
and no one ventured to contradict him, much less oppose 
him. 

Until August the winter detained the little fleet in its har- 
bour of refuge. During that time Magalhaens became ac- 
quainted with the uncouth inhabitants of the land. They 
were very tall, though not giants, as for a long time they were 
reckoned on account of the exaggerated accounts of travellers. 
They wore as clothing the skins of some unknown animal sewn 
together (probably the huanaco, a kind of llama). Even their 
feet were covered with skins, and this circumstance gave them 
the name of Patagonians (the flat-footed), which they still 
bear. At first they were quite confiding, but an attack of the 
Spaniards, who wanted to carry off some of these strange 
people, soon made them suspicious and hostile. 

The quarrels deprived the Spaniards of the opportunity of 
a close observation of the manners and customs of these 
Indians. Yet they noticed that their worship consisted of 
prayers to the devil. 



Fernam de Magalhaeiis. 251 

The Patagonians have no settled dwellings, but wander 
about at pleasure^ carrying with them huts, mere wooden 
frames covered with skins. They live mostly on raw flesh 
and a sweet root from which they prepare a kind of meal. 
Rats and mice, which were caught for them on board the 
ships, they devoured raw without even skinning them. They 
appeared insatiable. Six of them emptied a kettle of broth 
intended for twenty sailors, and of the two whom the Spaniards 
had captured each daily consumed a basket of biscuits, and 
could swallow at one draught half a bucket of water. 

On the 24th of August they weighed anchor, and the four 
ships — one of the ships had been wrecked on an exploring ex- 
cursion — pursued their way to the south. But the weather 
was so unfavourable that they were obliged to lie to for some 
weeks in the harbour of Santa Cruz. There Magalhaens in- 
formed the crew, to their great consternation, that if necessary 
he should continue his journey southwards as far as 75° soutk 
latitude. Fortunately, however, their patience was not tried 
so far, for October 21st, only three days after leaving the har- 
bour of Santa Cruz, the ships rounded Cabo dos Virgines, and 
found the entrance to a broad channel running in a south- 
westerly direction. 

It was the long-desired passage, which ever since has borne 
the name of its discoverer. It consists of a number of rocky 
chambers with narrow branching passages. Running to the 
north there are numerous deep fiords, and to the south narrow 
outlets into the sea. 

Contrary winds hindered the forward progress of the ships. 
Even to this day a great knowledge of the place is necessary 
to steer safely through such a labyrinth. Cape Froward, the 
south point of America, divides the strait into two halves, of 
which one, the Atlantic, has a north-easterly direction, while 
the other runs to the north-west. In the former there is a re- 
freshing prospect of green woods, but the latter is a narrow 



252 A Century of Discovery. 

pass through rocks, some of them 7000 feet high, between 
which glaciers float down to the sea. 

Arrived at Cape Froward, Magalhaens called a meeting of 
his principal sailors, and laid before them the question whether 
they thought it advisable to continue the voyage, since their 
provisions would only last three months. All voted to do so, 
since they knew that such was the decided desire of their 
chief. Only Stevam Gomez, the helmsman of the San An- 
tonio, an experienced sailor, counselled that they should return 
to Spain, and come back the next year with a new fleet. But 
he was out-voted ; and Magalhaens angrily interrupted his re- 
presentations with the words, " Enough of this. Even if we 
are compelled to eat the leather on the ships' yards, it shall 
not prevent my keeping my word with the Emperor." 

A short time afterwards he sent the San Antonio to explore, 
and when it returned it did not find the rest of the ships at 
the appointed place. The crew at once demanded that they 
should be allowed to return home ; Gomez supported them in 
this demand, the captain was put in chains, and the vessel 
started on the homeward voyage. It arrived in Spain on the 
6th of May, 1521, where the worst possible reports were im- 
mediately circulated about the disastrous results of the under- 
taking. 

The desertion of his best ship was a blow to Magalhaens, 
but it did not shake his resolution. Without hesitation he 
pursued his way, and on the 27th of November arrived at the 
•end of the strait, and to the great joy of all sailed out into the 
open sea. 

In order to reach a warmer region, Magalhaens steered 
towards the north for nearly a month, and then sailed in a 
north-westerly direction. The equator was crossed on the 
1 2th of February,- 1521, and a few days later they reached a 
latitude of 13° north, where they remained. The voyage over 
"the ocean lasted more than three months, and Magalhaens 



Fernmn de Magalhaens. 253 

named it the Pacific, on account of the calms from which they 
suffered. All this time they only came to two inhabited 
islands, their course carrying them by an unlucky accident 
beyond the swarm of islands which are scattered over the 
tropical zone of the great ocean. 

Oppressive heat rendered the sufferings of the almost ex- 
hausted voyagers very great, for the small supply of water 
which yet remained had long become bad, and its nauseous- 
ness was so great that it could scarcely be drunk. For weeks 
the only food that remained was biscuit, mouldy, decayed, 
and defiled by rats. At last they ate the leather with which 
the yards were covered to protect them from the friction of 
the ropes ; but this was so hard that it had to be soaked for 
five days in the sea before it was soft enough to cook. And 
all this suffering was of course accompanied by the horrible 
scurvy, which caused the gums so to swell that those attacked 
by it could not take any nourishment. 

At last there came an end to the terrible torture. On the 
6th of March there appeared before the longing eyes of the 
starving seamen two green islands, which rose out of the 
waves like gardens, and the ships were soon surrounded by 
numerous boats full of natives, who brought them all kinds of 
fruits, and among others cocoanuts and bananas. These boats 
were distinguished by three-cornered mat sails and crooked 
poles sticking out right and left, which served to balance 
them. The naked natives, of an olive colour, who were dis- 
tinguished by symmetry of form and had pleasant counte- 
nances, came on board the Spanish vessels with perfect fear- 
lessnesSj and conducted themselves with the utmost ease 

Everything was new to them, and everything that pleased 
them — and what did not please them } — they immediately 
tried to appropriate. In vain the Spaniards many times 
cleared the decks of them. Any attempt at harshness so en- 
raged them that they pelted the ships with stones and burn- 



254 A Century of Discovery. 

ing pieces of wood — bows and arrows they had none. A few 
cannon shots indeed put them to flight, but they came back 
at night, and under cover of darkness succeeded in cutting off 
'one of the best boats and carrying it ashore. To recover this 
the Spaniards landed, gained possession of the boat, burnt 
down a village, and carrying off all the provisions they could 
•iind, weighed anchor. They gave to the group of islands the 
name of Ladrones or Thieves' Islands, which they still bear. 
The two islands visited by the Spaniards were probably 
Guahan and Santa Rosa, the two most southerly ones. 

Three days only had their stay lasted. From the 9th to 
the 1 6th of March they pursued their way westward, till they 
reached the coast of an island covered with dark green woods 
and luxuriant vegetation. They soon discovered that it was 
one of a group of large and populous islands, to which the 
Spaniards gave the name of St. Lazarus Islands from the day 
on which they were found. The year 1 542, however, when 
they were carefully examined by Ru}^ Lopez de Villalobas> 
the name was changed to the Philippines. 

Magalhaens anchored cautiously in a retired bay on a small 
uninhabited island, where the sick sailors soon got well. 
After a week's rest the fleet again set sail, and soon reached 
the Island of Massana, now called Limasagua, whose in- 
habitants came out immediately to greet the strangers. Pre- 
sents were exchanged, and such intimate relations were estab- 
lished that several Spaniards at the invitation of the King 
passed the night in his palace ; and the assembled crews cele- 
brated their Easter with great solemnity on shore. The in- 
habitants were Malays, for the most part entirely naked, but 
tattooed all over. The Spaniards were exceedingly disgusted 
at their habit of betel-chewing. All the islanders, without 
distinction of age or sex, were provided with pieces of a pear- 
shaped fruit, the areca nut, which, with the addition of a little 
lime, they wrap up in the betel leaves and put into their 



Fernam de Magalhaens. 255 

inouths. They never left off this occupation the whole day, 
and declared that they would die if they gave up the betel, 
which excites the heart. 

Here Magalhaens learned that at no great distance lay the 
most fruitful and most beautiful island of the whole archi- 
pelago. It was named Zebu, and he crossed over to it on the 
7th of April, accompanied by the friendly King of Massana. 
In the harbour of a considerable town lay several mer- 
chant-ships, and from one of these, which belonged to Siam, 
the King of Zebu learned that the new comers belonged to 
the mighty nation that had conquered Malacca. Impelled 
by fear, he sought to gain their friendship, treating them 
with the utmost courtesy. They were supplied with plenty 
of provisions, and splendidly entertained at the court of 
the King. So anxious was his brown Majesty to conciliate 
the Spaniards that he declared himself ready to embrace 
Christianity, and acknowledge the supremacy of the Spanish 
crown. On the 14th of April therefore he was baptised, with 
his wife and many subjects. The hideous idols were burnt, and 
crosses erected in their place, the whole country being pro- 
claimed Spanish. 

But the surprising speed of this revolution, which highly 
delighted the Spaniards, had yet its great dangers. A number 
of the inhabitants were very dissatisfied with the change, and 
particularly irritated at the ill-treatment of their gods. They 
retired into the little island of Mactan, which lay in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood of Zebu, and was the seat of a universal 
discontent. 

When Magalhaens received news of this he determined, in 
spite of the advice of all judicious persons, to attack the mal- 
contents, who, as he hoped, were not in a condition to hold out 
against the superior arms of the Europeans. In the night of 
the 26th and 27th of April he sailed with sixty well-armed 
people on three boats, on each of which there was a cannon, 



256 A Century of Discovery. 

to Mactan, accompanied by the King of Zebu and a fleet of 
native boats. 

In the first grey of the morning they saw the coast. As 
the shallowness of the water hindered the boats from ap- 
proaching, the warlike leader sprang into the water, and with 
forty-nine of his companions waded to the shore. The over- 
whelming crowds of the enemy, reckoned at about 1500 men, 
fell upon the little troop, which were obliged to depend en- 
tirely upon their own exertions, as the cannons in the boats 
could do nothing at so great a distance, and Magalhaens had 
expressly forbidden the native auxiliaries to take any part in 
the battle, so sure was he of speedy victory. 

But the wooden shields of the natives were some protection 
against the firearms of the Spaniards, whilst the latter were 
unable to stand against the furious attacks of their enemies, 
who swarmed on them from all sides with a perfect hail of 
arrows. Several of them fell, and Magalhaens himself was 
severely wounded in the leg by a bamboo spear. He ordered 
a retreat, which with most of his men became a flight, and by 
wading they succeeded in reaching the ships. Only seven or 
eight of the bravest remained with their general, who retired 
slowly, still fighting, towards the beach. The nearer they 
came to the water the more inpetuous became the attacks. 
Twice Magalhaens's helmet was struck oft", and at last he was 
wounded by a lance-thrust in the forehead. He ran his spear 
through his antagonist, but could not succeed in drawing it 
out of his body again. He tried to draw his sword, but a 
severe blow disabled his arm. Almost at the same moment 
he was struck down by a lance, and once prostrate he was 
soon overwhelmed by the natives, and expired under count- 
less wounds. Seven Spaniards fell with him, and the rest 
escaped to the ships. But the battle was continued in the 
water, and was only brought to an end by a discharge of 
cannon. 




DEATH OF MAGALHAENS IN THE ISLAND OF MACTAN. 



Fernam de Magalhaens. 257 

Thus the great seaman found a sad end among savages ; 
after having so often braved the rage of the elements, and 
'having been the first to open the mysterious gates of a great 
ocean, he fell a victim to over-confidence in the irresistible 
power of European arms and Spanish gallantry. He was not 
allowed to reap the reward of his great deed. Perhaps a 
•gracious Providence wished to spare him the fate of Columbus. 

His death was disastrous to the whole undertaking. To- 
gether with the belief in the invincibility of the strangers 
departed the Christian faith of the new converts ; and when 
the victorious islanders threatened the King of Zebu with war 
if he remained in alliance with the enemies of their country, 
he was easily persuaded to betray those whom he had hitherto 
treated as his guests. He invited them to a 'feast on the 1st 
of May, for the purpose of giving them presents for his liege 
lord the King of Spain. Twenty-two Spaniards, under the 
lead of Barbosa, who had taken the command, accepted the 
invitation, and Barbosa's scornful taunt, that whoever feared 
might stay on board, impelled the gallant Serrao to accom- 
pany them. His mistrust was only too well founded. At the 
feast all the guests were put to the sword, Serrao only being 
spared. Him they dragged down to the shore bound, and 
offered to release hitn for a ransom of two cannons. But the 
Spaniards did not venture near, and hastily weighed anchor. 
The unhappy Serrao, whose entreaties for deliverance died 
away unanswered, was dragged back to the town, and there 
probably miserably murdered. 

Deeply cast down, the sailors continued their way towards 
the south. The crews being so sorrowfully diminished in 
numbers, and many of the survivors being wounded, it was no 
longer possible to manage the three ships, and it was therefore 
determined to burn the worst of the vessels, the Conception, 
on the open sea. They then sailed west in search of the 
Moluccas, and touched the island of Palawan, whence they 

17 



258 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

steered towards the south. Thus they reached the island of 
Borneo, and entered the harbour of that name. 

This was the seat of a powerful Sultan, who prepared a very- 
friendly reception for the exhausted Spaniards, and displayed 
the greatest pomp before them. Beautifully decorated boats 
brought them all kinds of presents, especially provisions ; 
among other things arrack, a spirit prepared from rice, with 
which the Spaniards now for the first time became acquainted. 
An embassy which they despatched to the court of the Prince 
was conducted to the splendid palace by monstrous elephants 
having wooden constructions on their backs. Here they found 
a richly-dressed bodyguard and numerous dignitaries ; but the 
Sultan himself sat with his wife in a kind of box with a grat- 
ing in front of it, and everything which the strangers wished 
to say to him was passed from mouth to mouth up a perfect 
staircase of officers until it reached the Prime Minister, who 
transmitted it through a speaking-trumpet to the ear of the 
Prince. The reply came back in the same way. After the 
audience the ambassadors were well entertained, and then 
conducted back to the ships. 

The very active people over whom the Sultan ruled were of 
Malay origin, and had recently become Mahometans. They 
are particularly good sailors, and singularly skilful traders, 
and they also understand agriculture and the management of 
cattle. The principal articles of commerce produced by their 
very fruitful land are cinnamon, ginger, sugar-cane, and cam- 
phor, and the brisk trade draws into their land foreign mer- 
chants in crowds, especially Chinese. 

From the 8th to the 29th of July the Spaniards lay in the 
harbour of Borneo, bartering for provisions and other ne- 
cessaries. But when, from mutual misunderstandings, they 
became engaged in strife with the numerous merchant-ships, 
they left the harbour in over-anxious haste, and sought farther- 
north a solitary bay, in which to carry out the repairs necessary- 



Fernam de Magalhap.ns. 259 

to their ships. Here they examined carefully the plants and 
animals peculiar to the island, and amused themselves with 
hunting wild boars and turtles. After some weeks they re- 
sumed their voyage in search of the Moluccas. On their way 
they captured all the Malay boats that they met, and made 
those on board act as pilots. At length, on the 8th of No- 
vember, 1 52 1, they anchored off the coast of the island of 
Tidor, more than two years after their departure from 
Spain. 

Almansor, the Sultan of this island, immediately came on 
board, and made himself exceedingly obliging, even going so 
far as to take an oath of allegiance to the Emperor Charles 
V. In this way he hoped to procure the assistance of the 
Spaniards against the Portuguese, towards whom he had a 
strong feeling of hatred. It is even said, as the Spaniards 
heard afterwards, that Francisco Serrao, the discoverer of the 
Moluccas, and a close friend of Magalhaens, had been poisoned 
by Almansor. In spite of there being no Portuguese at that 
time in Tidor, the Spanish sailors yet did not feel themselves 
secure, and freighted their ships as hastily as possible with 
cloves. Fortune favoured them. Pedro Affonso de Lourousa, 
the Portuguese factor on the neighbouring island of Ternate, 
probably influenced by a bribe, delivered over the goods he 
had stored up by him, and united himself with the Spaniards. 
He also procured for them alliances with the Sultans of Ter- 
nate and Batchang. In a few weeks the ships were freighted, 
and they were just on the point of' weighing anchor when 
a great leak was discovered in the Trinidad, the largest of 
the two ships, which made it necessary to delay the start. 
While the vessel was being repaired, the crew, consisting of 
fifty men, with their captain, Gomez de Espinosa, took up 
their dwelling on the island. At last everything was made 
right, and the}' set sail towards the north-east, for they dared 
not approach the Portuguese possessions in India, where the 

17 — 2 



26o ' A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

landing of the Spaniards in the Moluccas was known, and pre- 
cautionary measures had been taken. 

Espinosa preferred to return across the wide ocean, hoping 
to find the harbour of Panama, in Central America, where for 
some years a Spanish Governor had ruled. But he waited 
vainly for a favourable west wind ; he sailed up to 42° north 
latitude, but all to no purpose. At last he was compelled to 
turn round ; and, dismasted and almost wrecked by a storm 
that lasted for five days, the Tri7iidad xQt\xrntd to the Moluccas. 
Here meanwhile the Portuguese had arrived with a consider- 
able force, and there remained nothing for the unhappy 
Spaniards but to surrender to their rivals. The hard treat- 
ment which they received in prison and the unhealthy climate 
soon swept them off, and only four of them — three sailors and 
a chaplain — returned, in 1526, in a Portuguese ship, to their 
native land. 

The Victoria, which quitted Tidor on the i8th of December, 
1 521, had a happier fate. On it there were forty-seven 
Spaniards and thirteen natives, principally prisoners who had 
been captured in the Malay boats. The captain was Juan 
Sebastian Elcano ; the helmsman, Francisco Albo. The 
pilots, who were taken from Tidor, conducted the ship first 
towards the south, until it had passed out of the Sunda Sea 
by the island of Timor into the open Indian Ocean. They 
then steered directly to the west, and after a prosperous voy- 
age of three months, reached the south point of Africa. 
Violent contrary winds, however, hindered them from passing 
the Cape, and even after they had entered the Atlantic Ocean 
the patience of the crew was severely tried by continued bad 
weather. Their number was reduced by hunger and sickness 
to thirty, and these were so enfeebled that they stopped at 
St. Jago, in the Cape Verde Islands, to recruit. 

As they artfully gave out that they had come from 
America, and were part of a fleet sailing to Hispaniola that had 



Fernam de Magalhaens. • 261 

been driven out of its course by a storm, they met with a very 
friendly reception from the Portuguese colonists. They did not, 
however, exercise the caution necessary, and the latter soon 
found out the truth. The Governor of the town immediately 
acted according to the orders which King Emanuel had issued 
for all Portuguese colonies in case at any time they should be 
visited by people circumnavigating the globe. He seized 
a boat, and took the thirteen men that were in it prisoners, at 
the same time arming the ships lying in the harbour in order 
to overpower the Trinidad. But the watchful Elcano had 
carefully observed the movements on the shore, and without 
troubling himself about the fate of the prisoners, sailed away 
with all speed. 

At last on the 6th of September, 1522, the ship reached the 
Spanish coast, and ran into the harbour of San Lucar de 
Barrameda, which it had left almost three years before. Of 
the sixty that had then manned it only thirteen returned, and 
they were utterly exhausted both in body and mind. They 
had long been given up as lost, and their return was looked 
upon as a miracle. They themselves considered it so, and 
immediately after their landings true to the vow which they 
had made in the day of their distress, went barefooted and 
bareheaded in a solemn procession to the church Santa Maria 
del Antigua to offer their thanks to Heaven for their wonderful 
deliverance. The whole learned world was deeply interested 
in the successful accomplishment of the great undertaking of 
circumnavigating the globe. The most important result, with 
the exception of the discovery of the great ocean, was the 
curious fact that the voyagers had lost a whole day on their 
way. Many thought this an oversight, but the astronomer 
Contarini immediately showed that this was the natural con- 
sequence of their circuit from east to west, whereby they had 
accompanied the sun, and that in the same way the opposite 
movement from west to east would bring the gain of a day. 



262 A Century of Discovery. 

It was also thought a great thing that by this first circum- 
navigation of the globe a palpable proof of the spherical 
form of the earth was given. 

The Emperor Charles summoned the bold sailors to his 
court at Valladolid, and there heard with the greatest interest 
their wonderful story. He rewarded each with a pension, and 
to Elcano he granted also a significant coat of arms, on which 
were displayed in a field of gold nutmegs and cloves, and a 
globe with the inscription, " Primus circumdedisti me." 

But he had no intention of neglecting the political con- 
sequences of the expedition, the discovery of a western route 
to India and the seizure of the Moluccas. He fitted out a 
new squadron of seven sail, which left Seville on the 24th of 
July, 1525, in order to take the new way to the Spice Islands. 
The commander was Garcia de Loaysa, but under him Elcano 
again took part in the expedition. In making for the 
Straits of Magellan, one of the ships strayed to the south 
point of Tierra del Fuego, which was afterwards called Cape 
Horn. Of all the ships only the Admiral's, with a crew 
that had been sadly lessened by sickness, reached Tidor on 
the 31st of December, 1526, where the Spaniards established 
themselves and engaged in hot struggles with the Portuguese, 
who had built a fort at Ternate. A ship despatched to their aid 
by Cortes from Mexico, and which anchored at Tidor in 1528, 
was most welcome. But internal discord crippled the under- 
takings of the Spaniards. In 1529 Tidor was betrayed into 
the hands of the Portuguese, and the few Spaniards who 
survived were obliged according to the treaty to retire to 
another island. Here the struggle continued until the news 
of the treaty of 1529, by which the Moluccas were conceded 
to the Portuguese, reached them. There were only seventeen 
Spaniards who then (1534) returned home. 



CHAPTER VI. 

HERNANDO CORTES. 

Wpiile the Spanish ships were traversing the newly-dis- 
'Covered ocean, and striving with the Portuguese for their most 
valuable possession in the Indian waters, nothing had been left 
undone to increase the value of the Antilles. The wealth of 
Hispaniola, though by no means inconsiderable — in 1520, 
according to some authorities, 100,000 ducats are said to have 
flowed into the royal coffers ; according to others, ^{^300,000 
— was yet not important enough to satisfy the expectations 
of the adventurers who streamed into the land, and who 
were therefore compelled to support themselves as planters. 
Bishop Fonseca, the worthy President of the Council for 
Indian Affairs in Seville, did all in his power to encourage the 
emigration of industrious and steady colonists. Such received 
free passages, were exempted from all taxes with the exception 
of the tenth, and the piece of land which they pledged them- 
selves to cultivate for four years then became their own 
property. Only metals, jewels, and dyes the Crown reserved 
to itself, and it made special arrangements with certain dis- 
tinguished persons for the procuring of these. Upon all other 
productions of the island it only placed a moderate duty. 
But favourable as everything was to the emigration of an 
industrious labouring class, there were few adventurers who 
were inclined for a life of quiet work. A spirit of feverish 
restlessness had come over the whole of Spain and had 
penetrated to the very lowest stratum. With a greed for the 
treasures of the New World was united a knightly joy in the 



264 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

stirring and romantic dangers — a joy which had first been' 
inspired by the wars with the Arabs, and which now could be 
satisfied in that land of wonders on the other side of the 
ocean. And, lastly, there was added to this the pious delusion 
that in fighting with, and indeed destroying, the heathen 
natives, the Spaniards were executing a work useful to the 
Church and well pleasing to God. A longing for wealth and 
the easy enjoyment of life, the desire for unheard-of adven- 
tures, and a fanatical missionary zeal are the striking charac- 
teristics of the thousands and tens of thousands who in a few 
years flocked into America. Only a few of them returned 
with anything like wealth to their native country ; the ma- 
jority found their death in some foolhardy enterprise ; while- 
many returned home beggars and infirm, having wasted their 
quickly-gained wealth in play and dissipation. The lives of 
these fortune-hunters oscillated between the greatest extremes ;. 
to-day they were the possessors of rich plantations, lords of 
hundreds of brown slaves — all subject to every wish of their- 
masters, and the objects of every kind of inhumanity — drunkards, 
and gluttons — men are even said at their feasts to have placed on 
their tables gold-dust instead of salt; to-morrow they were poor^ 
in debt, in jail, threatened with lawsuits. But it was exactly 
men like these, reduced by misfortune and their own wicked- 
ness, that were always ready to engage in the most adventur- 
ous undertakings, and to follow the brave leader who could 
promise them deprivations, struggles, and adventures, and as 
their reward, riches and unbridled enjoyment. Thus Hispa- 
niola was the starting-point of numerous expeditions which 
gradually covered the coasts and islands of Central America 
with Spanish colonies. 

Under thegovernorshipof Nicholasde Ovando, Hernan Ponce,, 
who from the place of his birth was called de Leon, had colo- 
nised the island of Porto Rico, and after a bloody struggle 
had subdued the natives. The gold of the island — though it 



Hernando Cortes. • 265. 

quickly proved to be not very great in quantity — and its 
fruitful plains, allured many Spanish settlers to it, while the 
natives rapidly died out. For the same reasons the coasts of 
Cuba, the insular nature of which was at last firmly estab- 
lished, was quickly covered with Spanish settlements, as soon 
as the knight Diego Velasquez (15 11), with the consent of 
the Governor, Diego Columbus, had begun the colonisation of 
the island. Here the opposition of the Indians was but 
weak, and ended with the capture and execution of their 
leader, the Cacique Hatuey. 

When Diego Columbus had victoriously established his 
claim to the governorship of Porto Rico, the conqueror, Hernan 
Ponce de Leon (15 13), left the island, in order to procure for 
himself a new governorship in some of the yet undiscovered 
lands. The report of a wonderful medicinal spring in the 
land of Bimini which made the old young again made him. 
direct his course towards the north-west. He discovered oa 
this voyage a country to which he gave the name of Florida, 
but he did not find the wonderful spring, neither did he 
succeed in forming a settlement on the peninsula, both coasts 
of which he visited, because the warlike Indians opposed 
most vehemently every attempt to land. 

On his return the Bahama Islands and the little groups ofi" 
the coast of Florida were more thoroughly explored, but the 
whole expedition did not fulfil the hopes of Hernan Ponce. 
This want of success did not, however, discourage him. In the 
year 15 15, by personally conducting his affairs in Castile, he 
obtained the appointment of Adelantado of Bimini, and in 
1520 he sailed from Porto Rico with a stately squadron ta 
found a settlement in Florida. This time the expedition was 
even more disastrous. A number of the Spaniards fell in 
battle with the Indians, and the rest Hernan Ponce was obliged 
to take back to Porto Rico, himself suffering from a wound 
which soon afterwards proved fatal. 



266 A Cenhuy of Discovery. 

Just as Porto Rico was the starting-place of expeditions 
intended for the north, Cuba was the point of departure for 
the unknown west. The immediate object of these expedi- 
tions was the slave trade, and it first led the Spanish sailors 
to the little islands in Honduras Bay. On the ist of March, 
15 17, Hernandez de Cordova found himself opposite an un- 
known promontory. Cape Catoche (21 degrees north latitude), 
where the Spaniards first met traces of high civilisation. 
Populous towns with white houses, above whicli arose 
■stately towers and mighty temples, with a stirring population, 
decently clothed and skilled in all kinds of arts and manu- 
factures — this was a sight quite new and entirely unexpected 
by the Spaniards, who until now had only met with the naked 
children of nature. As far as Cordova continued his voyage 
along the coast to the west the same sight met his eyes, and 
in Compeche he learnt to know the superior gallantry of the 
natives and their skill in war, being forced by them after con- 
siderable loss to return to the ships. He left the coast, 
■called by the natives Maya, but to which, mistaking a reply 
received from its inhabitants, Cordova gave the name of Yu- 
catan. He returned by Florida to Cuba, where he soon after 
died. But the surprising information which he brought with 
him awoke in the Governor, Velasquez, the desire for dis- 
covery. Out of his own means he fitted out a squadron of 
four ships to obtain exact information about the newly-dis- 
covered lands, and gave the command to his nephew, the 
upright Juan de Grijalva. 

On the 1st of May, 1518, he discovered south of Cape Ca- 
toche the important Island of Cozumel, with a surprisingly 
large number of temples, and after rounding the cape he 
proceeded along the whole north coast of Yucatan without 
entering into friendly intercourse with the natives until he 
reached the river Tabasco, the boundary of the great king- 
dom of Mexico, the size and importance of which was not 



Hernajido Cortes. 267 

known to the Spaniards. The coast then turned towards the 
north-west, and Grijalva followed it to a group of little islands 
which, from their bloody altars, received the name of Isla de 
Los Sacrificios. 

The coast of the mainland, where the town of Vera Cruz 
now stands, was then called Ulua, and was thickly peopled. 
Here Grijalva succeeded in opening a friendly communication 
with the natives and their rulers, and for some unimportant 
trifles obtained great treasures of skilfully worked gold. 
Faithful to the directions received from Velasquez, Grijalva 
withstood the wish of his sailors to establish a settlement in 
Ulao, and contented himself with despatching a ship, under 
the subsequently famous Pedro de Alvarado, with the treasures 
and important news to Cuba. He himself for a time continued 
his voyage along the coast, which bent towards the north, 
turning round at last at the mouth of the river Panuco 
(22 degrees north latitude). The gap which was still left 
between the utmost point of Grijalva's discoveries and the 
v/est coast of Florida, traversed by Ponce de Leon, was filled 
up in 15 19 by Francisco de Garay, the assistant-governor of 
Jamaica. The squadron sent out by him explored the whole 
north coast of the'Gulf of Mexico, and thus made clear that 
the two peninsulas of Florida and Yucatan belonged to one 
and the same continent. This was the last link in the long 
chain of Central American discoveries. 

When Grijalva, on the 30th of September, 15 18, landed in 
Havannah he was much surprised to receive a cool reception 
from the Governor Velasquez. The capricious man blamed 
him for having faithfully carried out his orders, and resisted 
the proposal to found a colony. Immediately after Alvarado's 
arrival he had begun preparations, and passing over Grijalva, 
appointed another to the command of the undertaking. This 
was a man exceptionally fitted to overcome the unheard-of 
difficulties of his task and to carry it through in a brilliant 



2 68 A Century of Discovery. 

manner, but one whom Velasquez certainly would never have 
chosen if he had fully known his aspiring and independent 
spirit. 

Hernando Cortes was born of a good family in the year 
1485, at Medellin, in the province of Estremadura. He was 
designed by his father, a captain of the Spanish army, for a 
lawyer. He received a good education, and to complete his 
studies was sent to the University of Salamanca. But after 
two years, which the fiery youth spent in dissipation and 
riot, his parents saw that it would be impossible to make a 
lawyer of him, and let him follow the bent of his adventurous 
mind. So in 1504 he embarked for the New World, and 
after a very dangerous voyage landed at Hispaniola, where 
Ovando granted him a considerable repartimento (piece of 
land and the compulsory service of some Indians), and ap- 
pointed him notary of the new town of Azua. 

Some years passed away in the pleasant enjoyment of his ' 
possession, and the monotony of his life he varied by many 
affairs of honour and by the share which he took in the 
struggles with the Indians. In this way he became acquainted 
with Velasquez, whom he accompanied to Cuba in 15 11. At 
first a favourite of the new Governor, he subsequently be- 
came hostile to him and headed a conspiracy to obtain 
the deposition of Velasquez. But Velasquez was on his 
guard and got possession of the person of Cortes. He is said 
even to have intended to have him executed, and was only 
deterred by the urgent entreaties of some important persons. 
After a time Cortes gave up his hostile designs against the 
Governor, and in order to evince his change of mind mar- 
ried the beautiful Catalina Xuarez, from Granada, who was 
under the protection of Velasquez. The reconciliation was a 
durable one. Cortes lived almost exclusively on the large 
estate granted to him near the harbour of St. Jago, in which 
he was invested with the dignity of Alcalde, and all the rest- 



Hernando Cortes. ' 269 

less and ambitious wishes of his soul appeared to slumber. 
Then came Alvarado's news of the wonderful discoveries of 
Grijalva, and immediately all Cortes's love of adventure 
awoke. 

By the mediation of good friends he procured from Velas- 
quez the command of the expedition that was projected, and 
at once became unweariedly active in endeavouring to com- 
plete the preparation of his squadron, upon which he spent 
his whole wealth, and indeed plunged deeply into debt. But 
his hopes were almost shattered at the last moment. Doubts 
had arisen in the mind of Velasquez concerning the faithful- 
ness of his former antagonist, and he meditated placing a 
more reliable person in command. Cortes no sooner sus- 
pected the design than with his half-completed squadron he 
immediately left the harbour of St. Jago (on the i8th Novem- 
ber, 15 18). In other harbours of the island he made up what 
was wanting, and in spite of the hurry of the preparations he 
completed everything with care and exactness, superintending 
all himself to the minutest detail. In spite of the prohibition 
of the irritated Governor the best soldiers joined the force of 
the rebel general, in whose energy and skill all placed the 
greatest confidence, and when he mustered his forces at the 
west point of Cuba, Cape St. Antonio, he found himself in 
command of eleven ships, no sailors, 503 soldiers, and 200 
Indian servants. 

The management of the ships was entrusted to Anton de 
Alaminos, who had accompanied Columbus, Cordova, and 
Grijalva. His chief strength lay in artillery, which consisted 
of ten heavy and four light cannon, and in a cavalry force of 
sixteen horse, which had been obtained at great expense, 
but proved afterwards of the greatest service. Full of confi- 
dence, Cortes weighed anchor on February iStli, 15 19, and 
proceeded with his little force to the conquest of a powerful 
empire, which counted its subjects by millions. 



270 A Century of Discovciy. 

In the centre of this kingdom lay the country of Anahuac^ 
consisting of a large portion of the high tableland, which 
rises 7000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. This territory had 
been in early times the seat of a people of high development 
— the Toltecs — who, from some unexplained cause, had en- 
tirely vanished, leaving as the only proofs of their existence 
the ruins of some venerable temples. New tribes poured into 
the empty land from the north — the savage Chichemecs, 
the more developed Acolhuans, and the warlike Aztecs. The 
second tribe built their capital, Tezcuco, on the east shore of 
the lake which lies in the middle of the high land, while the 
Aztecs found a site for their chief town in the lake itself — 
Tenochtitlan being built on piles in the marshy ground like a 
second Venice, and being only accessible from the shore by 
narrow causeways. Soon after the building of the town, which 
must have taken place about 1325, the two nations concluded 
an alliance offensive and defensive ; but the warlike Aztecs 
proceeded from conquest to conquest, and soon ruled both in 
the tablelands and also on the sultry shores of the two oceans. 

The town of Tezcuco remained small, and its citizens sought 
their glory in peaceful acquisitions, by which their more power- 
ful neighbours and allies profited. Both the states were king- 
doms, the King being chosen by four electors from the brothers 
or nephews of his predecessor. His power Avas almost un- 
limited, his person sacred, and he was honoured almost as a 
god. But next to him was an aristocracy, with great landed 
possessions and a certain legal influence in the government. 
The rest of the population was divided into freemen and slaves. 
The chief occupation of every Aztec was war, to which he Avas 
brought up from his youth. A warlike disposition and an ex- 
aggerated sense of honour was cherished by the distinctions 
accorded to the brave ; and even the highly influential priestly 
order did their utmost to preserve uninjured the warlike ten- 
dencies of the national character. 



Hernando Cortes. 271 

The religious opinions of the Aztecs offer a strange mixture 
of lofty simplicity and gloomy superstition, of mild worship 
and bloody sacrifices ; possibly the brighter side should be 
attributed to the old Toltecs, and the gloomy and savage to 
the natural disposition of the Aztecs. Besides one chief god, 
creator of the world, they acknowledged several hundred lesser 
•gods, who were represented by ugly images. Amongst these, 
those who possessed most influence over the nation were the 
bloodthirsty god of slaughter, Huitzilopotchli — whose name 
the Spaniards changed into Vitzliputzli — and the god of war, 
Mexitli, the chief town, and afterwards the whole land, being 
named after his temple. In fearful contrast to the cheerful 
feasts, to the processions of women and children in honour of 
the mild deities, were the horrible human sacrifices offered to 
the god of slaughter. The unhappy victim was stretched alive 
upon the altar, and the chief priest, with a skilful hand, opened 
the breast and tore out the throbbing heart. In every town 
of the kingdom rose temples to Huitzilopotchli, and the num- 
ber of human beings oftered to him annually in the whole 
kingdom of the Aztecs is estimated at the lowest calculation 
as 20,000, while on special occasions, such as an accession or 
the dedication of a temple, it probably reached twice or three 
times that number. 

Most of these victims were prisoners taken in war ; and in 
order that there might be a sufficient number to offer, the 
Aztecs, who in battle always strove to make prisoners 
rather than to slay, annexed to their kingdom certain pro- ■ 
vinces — as, for example, Tlascala — in order in their ceaseless 
wars to have undisturbed territories in which to attend to 
their altars and sacrifices. What rendered the whole matter 
more revolting and horrible, was the custom of the priests to 
give back the body of the victim to the warrior who had 
taken him in battle, in order that he might feast on it with 
his friends. And this was no savage meal of hungry can- 



272 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

nibals, but a banquet in which costly beverages and all kinds 
-of dainty dishes were served up in golden vessels, and at which 
all the guests conducted themselves according to the rules 
of good manners. "Surely never," says Prescott, " were re- 
finement and the extreme of barbarism brought so closely in 
contact with each other." 

But this revolting picture must not make us blind to the 
extraordinary achievements of the Aztecs in almost every 
department of social life. Their well-cultivated land was 
covered with numerous towns built of stone. Among the 
public buildings the most remarkable were the temples, 
tcocalli, consisting of immense flattened pyramids of earth, 
upon which were high towers. Well-kept roads united the 
towns, between which there was the liveliest traffic. For 
money were used quills full of gold-dust, pieces of lead, and 
cocoa-beans. The knowledge of the Aztecs in astronomy was 
not inconsiderable, their temples were adorned with sculptures, 
and, written in hieroglyphics, they possessed songs celebrating 
the deeds of their heroes, and also a history of their country. 

Unfortunately, only a few of these valuable mo'^uments 
have been saved from the fanatical wrath of the Spanish 
priests. With consummate skill the Aztecs made entire pictures 
from the down of humming-birds, and manufactured splendid 
garments and quilts out of feathers. The administration of 
the great kingdom was ordered to the minutest detail. The 
governors of provinces had to send to the capital by runners, 
who were relieved from station to station, reports of every im- 
portant event in their jurisdiction, and in a few days received 
answers and commands by the same means. There w^ere 
garrisons in most of the important towns, and there were 
special arrangements by which the militia of the whole king- 
dom could be drawn together at the shortest notice. For 
armour the Aztec warriors wore coats of quilted cotton, and 
the nobles had also breastplates of thin silver and magnificent 



Hernando Cortes. 273 

'garments of feathers. Their weapons were, besides slings, 
arrows and lances, the points of which, however, were not 
made of iron but of brass. 

But the hour of destruction struck for this wonderful and 
singular civilisation when the Spaniards under Cortes landed 
on their coast. After its departure from Cape St. Antonio, 
the fleet steered first for the island of Cozumel, where the 
pious zeal of the Spaniards displayed itself by destroying the 
idols and obliging the people to submit to baptism. A more 
important event, however, was the adhesion of a man who 
made himself particularly useful as interpreter and adviser. 
Geronimo de Aguilar was a Spanish priest who had been ap- 
pointed to the colony in Darien, and through shipwreck had 
been obliged to spend many years in Yucatan, where he had 
become perfectly familiar with the customs and speech of 
Maya. It was only on the payment of a considerable sum 
that the Cacique, to whose house he belonged, would consent 
to the departure of Aguilar, who, full of ardent gratitude, 
attached himself to his deliverer, Cortes. The expedition met 
with a new interruption in Tabasco. Here, where Grijalva 
had been received so hospitably, Cortes was treated in a most 
bostile manner, a change of feeling that was caused by the 
vehement reproaches with which the Tabascans had been 
overwhelmed by all their neighbours for their friendly re- 
ception of the strangers. 

Cortes prepared for hostilities, and twice gave battle to 
the Indians, capturing and occupying their city. But the 
courage and pertinacity which the Indians opposed to the 
superiority of European arms excited the admiration of the 
Spaniards. Peace was made and an alliance concluded, and 
presents were exchanged. Among the twenty slaves whom 
the Cacique of Tabasco presented to Cortes there was one 
whose influence tended greatly to the successful issue of the 
enterprise. Marina, as the Spaniards called her, was the 

18 



274 ^ Cenhi7y of Discovery. 

daughter of one of the principal Caciques in Anahuac, and 
had been sold by her heartless mother into slavery in Yu- 
catan. She was therefore able to translate the language of 
the Aztecs into the Maya tongue, from which Aguilar could 
translate it into Spanish. Her beauty and rare gifts of mind 
enchained Cortes, and the Indian, through passionate love to 
the great adventurer, espoused his cause against her father- 
land. She was soon able to speak Spanish, and rendered* 
essential service to the Spaniards, who escaped many serious 
dangers by following her counsel. Thus her name is closely 
united to that of Cortes, and is still mentioned with honour 
in the land of Mexico. 
^ On the 20th of April, 15 19, the little fleet anchored op- 
posite the island of San Juan de Ulua, where now Vera Cruz 
stands. With the friendly assistance of the inhabitants, they 
soon encamped, and learned that they were in the kingdom of 
the mighty Montezuma, and that Teotlili, the Governor of the 
■ province, dwelt near. He soon made his appearance with a 
great train, greeted the strangers with much courtesy, offered 
them presents, and inquired the reason of their visit. Cortes 
declared himself the ambassador of a mighty Prince on the 
other side of the sea, and asked for a personal audience of 
the Emperor Montezuma, at the same time offering presents. 
Teotlili promised to present the request, and accordingly sent 
it immediately to Tenochtitlan, together with pictures of the 
wonderful strangers. 

Montezuma had been King of Anahuac since 1502. Be- 
longing to the priestly class, he had given before his election 
many proofs of his bravery and warlike skill, and the altars of 
the god of slaughter had never bled with more numerous offer- 
ings than during his reign. But, in spite of many beneficent in- 
stitutions, he had not been able to retain the love of his sub- 
jects ; his ostentatious manner of living and his arrogance had 
estranged from him the minds of the people in his capital,. 



Hernando Co7^tes. 275 

while those in the provinces were embittered by the increas- 
ing pressure of an excessive taxation. The news of the land- 
ing of the Europeans made the deepest impression upon him. 
It reminded him of an old saying, according to which Quet- 
zalcoatl, the god of the air, and the great benefactor of 
Anahuac, exiled by the hatred of the other gods, had em- 
barked from the shores of the Atlantic, promising to return, 
with his descendants, after the lapse of centuries, when a 
good time would begin for the whole of Anahuac. The 
Aztecs faithfully looked for the return of this benevolent 
god, and had exactly at that period discovered different ap- 
pearances in the heavens which they took for signs of the 
approach of the happy event. Just then landed on the 
Atlantic shores from a great ship men who, from the white 
colour of their skins, from their curly hair and long flowing- 
beards, resembled the pictures of the expected god ; and they- 
bore thunder and lightning with them. V/ere they the pro- 
mised descendants of Quetzalcoatl .'' Was he himself among 
them } These questions occupied the minds not only of the 
lower people, but also of the pious Emperor ; and they gave 
to his intercourse with the perplexing strangers a character of 
indecision which Cortes well knew how to take advantage of 
So the remarkable tradition contributed much to the Spanish 
conquest. 

After long consideration Montezuma chose the most ill- 
judged course. He offered the Spaniards presents of immense 
worth, but at the same time forbade them to come to the capital,. 
and bade them leave the kingdom. Of course, the more the 
boundless wealth of the land was displayed before the greedy 
eyes of the Spaniards the less was it to be expected that they 
would do this, and therefore Cortes replied that he could not 
think of returning to his own land until he had delivered the 
messages of his King personally to Montezuma. Then there 
followed a new report to Tenochtitlan, and then came more 

18—2 



276 A Century of Discovery. 

presents and an answer like the first. But when the Spaniards 
made no preparations to evacuate the land, and indeed said 
that they had come to induce the Aztecs to exchange their 
shameful idolatry for the worship of the one true God, the 
native dignitaries withdrew and broke off all intercourse with 
the foreigners. At the same time the natives received a com- 
mand to cease providing the strangers with food. 

At this opportune moment, the explorer whom Cortes had 
despatched returned with the information that they had 
found a spot farther to the north much better suited for an en- 
campment. Thither Cortes determined to remove, but he 
first prevailed upon the army to constitute itself a colony 
and to appoint its own magistrates. Before these Cortes 
appeared with every mark of respect and solemnly renounced 
the powers which he had received from Velasquez. As was to 
be foreseen these new magistrates begged him to retain the 
offices of Captain and Justicia Mayor, and to govern the 
colony that was to be founded in the name of the King of 
Spain. By this prearranged comedy Cortes made himself 
■completely independent of the Governor of Cuba, and hence- 
forth derived his power from the choice of the colonists. 
Nothing was wanting but the ratification of the King to make 
him equal with Velasquez. The Spaniards now left the desert 
in which they had hitherto been encamped and marched 
northwards through a garden-like region, while the fleet sailed 
along the coast. On the way Cortes and his army paid their 
promised visit to Cempoalla, the cacique of the capital of 
Totonakis. They found a flourishing well-built town of some 
20,000 inhabitants, and in it met with a friendly reception. 
Very soon the sharp eye of Cortes discovered that the Toto- 
nakis, recently subdued by the Aztecs, were discontented 
with their government, and might become valuable allies in 
the struggle that lay before him. In answer to his inquiries, 



Hernando Cortes. 277 

after some reserve, the cacique broke out into violent com- 
plaints of the oppression of Montezuma, and was evidently- 
pleased at his promise to protect him from all injustice. He 
accompanied the Spaniards to a town but a few miles distant, 
named Chiahuitzla, close to Vi^hich lay the ground for the new 
settlement, which received the name of Villa Rica de la Vera 
Cruz. Suddenly there appeared five Aztec nobles to demand 
the usual tribute from the Totonakis. The presence of the 
Spaniards and the friendly terms on which they were with the 
natives excited their anger and they threatened them with 
severe punishment. Then there arose a disturbance, probably 
at Cortes's instigation, and the ambassadors were made 
prisoners and given up to the Spaniards. Thus a thorough 
breach was made with the Aztecs, and the Totonakis found 
themselves dependent on the protection of the Spaniards. 
Exceedingly pleased at this event, Cortes sought now to ward 
off the danger on the other side. He treated the captive 
Aztecs with peculiar gentleness, and allowed them secretly 
to escape. The clever though double policy of Cortes was 
perfectly successful. Montezuma, who at the first news of 
the insurrection had given way to the wildest anger, was ap- 
peased by the report of the ambassadors. 

There soon appeared in the Spanish camp a new embassy 
with costly presents, as thanks for the mild treatment of the 
captives. At the same time Montezuma announced that, out 
of respect to Cortes, he would defer the severe punishment of 
the rebellious Totonakis until after his departure, which must 
now soon take place. Cortes received the presents with 
thanks, and answered that the visit which he intended to pay 
to the Emperor in Tenochtitlan would no doubt remove all 
misunderstanding between them — an answer which evidently 
caused annoyance to the Aztec ambassadors. 

Meanwhile the new town grew and promised to form a 
useful point whence to look for support in all future under- 



278 A Century of Discovery. 

takings. The people in authority were active, and the garri- 
son that was to remain behind, under the command of the 
trustworthy Juan de Escalante, was soon chosen. But before 
he started, Cortes wished to have done everytliing possible to 
give his power weight. He therefore sent a ship under the 
conduct of Alaminos to Spain, in order to petition King 
Charles to approve of all that he had already done and to 
ratify his appointment to the office of governor. In order to 
secure a favourable hearing, Cortes added his own share to the 
royal fifth of the spoil, and as at his instigation every one did 
the same, the whole treasure that had been collected was 
shipped off for the royal treasury. Certainly a most striking 
proof of the influence which he exercised over the minds of 
his soldiers. 

Drawing together the army for the march to Cempoalla 
he gave the celebrated order to destroy the fleet that lay 
before Vera Cruz. The unsuitableness of the ships was 
merely an excuse, Cortes really wished by this measure to 
take away every hope of returning to Cuba in case of mis- 
haps, and of compelling his followers to place their trust en- 
tirely in their own bravery and the wisdom of their leader. 
At first indeed there was a threatening of mutiny, but when 
Cortes appeared among the conspirators and placed before 
them his reasons, they all cheered him and demanded to be 
led to Mexico. After the Totonakis had been induced by 
means both of constraint and persuasion to give up the 
bloody service of their gods and come over to Christianity in 
masses, nothing in the interior could stand against them. 

Cortes set out on the i6th of August, 15 19. His army 
consisted of 400 infantry, 15 horse-soldiers and pieces of ar- 
tillery, and he was accompanied by 1300 Totonakis and 1000 
burden-bearers. He also took with him forty of the principal 
persons from Cempoalla as hostages and guides. Their way 
led them through the woods of the Tierra Caliente. After a 



Hernando Cortes. 279 

.gentle ascent they reached on the second day the town Xa- 
lapa, and then saw before them the rugged range of moun- 
tains, with its snowy peaks, which yet remained to be cUmbed. 
Witli difficulty the army wound its way up the passes, suffer- 
ing much from the alteration in climate, which changed from 
unbearable heat to cold rain and snow. When the height of 
7000 feet was reached the scenery became more agreeable. 
Hills and low ranges of mountains alternated with green 
woody valleys and well-cultivated plains. The climate was 
refreshing. 

Passing through several towns, which received them more 
or less hospitably — none, however, opposing them — the army 
approached the borders of the little state of Tlascala, which 
for several hundred years had successfully defended its liberty 
against the encroachments of the Aztecs, by whom it was 
surrounded. Almost overcome by numbers, cut off from all 
the necessaries of life — for half a century they had been de- 
prived of cocoa, cotton, and salt — they still obstinately refused 
to submit to their mighty neighbours, against whom they 
entertained an invincible hatred. They were a stalwart agri- 
cultural people, earning their bread by the sweat of their 
brow from the soil of their little fatherland, and unceasing 
wars had rendered them remarkable for their power of self- 
control. Their speech and manners resembled those of the 
Aztecs, but were ruder and less developed. Their little state 
was not a monarchy, but was divided into four orders, depen- 
dent upon one another. The unity of the whole was main- 
tained by means of a great council which decided all the 
most important matters, and in which the heads of the four 
orders played the chief part. 

To this council Cortes sent forward some Totonakis to 
ask liberty to march through the country, and to invite the 
people to join him in his attack against their old enemy the 
Aztecs. But contrary to all expectation, in the council a 



28o A Century of Discovery. 

feeling of mistrust prevailed with regard to the strangers, who 
were reproached with having cast down the gods of the people, 
and it was decided to oppose them. The young general Xi- 
cotencatl was accordingly instructed to open the war with the 
Spaniards, who had already passed the great wall which 
form.ed the east border of Tlascala. Thereupon began a 
struggle more obstinate than the Spaniards had hitherto ex- 
perienced in America. 

It was only after the utmost exertions and considerable 
loss that they succeeded in forcing their way through a rocky 
pass. Then the enemy yielded to the cavalry and formidable 
artillery, and retreated in perfect order. Cortes established 
himself cautiously at the mouth of the pass, and after some 
days accepted a second battle offered him in the open field 
by the great army of the Tlascalans, numbering full 50,000' 
men. The shock of these masses was fearful, and had it not 
been for the destructive effect of the artillery upon the thick 
ranks of the enemy the little handful of Spaniards would 
certainly have been overwhelmed. The struggle lasted for 
four hours, and only after repeated assaults did the enemy 
beat a retreat, in which Cortes left them unmolested. He 
returned to his secure position, and awaited the result of a 
second embassy which he despatched to the council. 

But it was not until after the failure of a night attack that 
the overtures of the Spanish general were accepted. At last 
peace was brought about. On September 23rd followed the 
public entry into the town. The strangers were received as- 
welcome guests, and by a warm response endeavoured to 
show that all hostility was banished from their minds. Tlas- 
cala acknowledged the supremacy of the Spanish King, and 
promised to support Cortes in his march against Tenochtitlan. 
Cortes, at the advice of the sagacious Father Bartolome 
de Olmedo, desisted from his endeavour to introduce Chris-- 
tianity, fearing to shake a friendship of such recent date. 



Hernando Coi^tes. 281 

During their stay at Tlascala a new embassy appeared from 
Montezuma. He had at first witnessed with pleasure the 
march of Cortes against Tlascala, hoping that the sturdy 
mountaineers, who had so gallantly resisted the Aztecs, would 
overcome the strangers. But the news of the victories of the 
Spaniards and their alliance with the Tlascalans had changed 
this joy into dismay, and this time the messengers brought a 
very warm invitation to Tenochtitlan. This sudden change 
of mind, with the earnest request to come by Cholula, together 
with the warnings of the rough Tlascalans, excited Cortes's 
suspicions. But he contrived to conceal them, and in spite 
of all the counsels of the Tlascalans, who sent with him 6000 
soldiers, began his march to Cholula. 

This town in the eyes of all the inhabitants of Anahuac 
was peculiarly sacred ; there Quetzalcoatl had reigned bene- 
ficently ; there stood his famous sanctuary, the most gigantic 
teocalli of the whole land ; there, in over 200 temples, were 
more than 6000 men yearly offered up to the bloody Aztec 
gods. The inhabitants of the town, numbering about 150,000, 
had the reputation of being very highly educated, wanting in 
courage, but not, as the Tlascalans asserted, in cunning and 
deceit. 

The Spaniards, who were very warmly received, were as- 
tonished at the order and cleanliness of the streets, in which 
the traffic was very great. They were quartered in the court- 
yard of a large temple and abundantly supplied, while their 
Tlascalan allies, not to arouse any hostile feeling, had formed 
a camp outside the town. 

But after a few days the conduct of the Cholulans changed 
and manifested coldness and dislike. Suspicion again 
awoke in Cortes's mind, but all inquiries were vain, until 
Marina, who had insinuated herself into the confidence of a 
cacique's wife, solved the riddle. She discovered a fearful 
conspiracy against the Spaniards, who on their departure 



2S2 A Century of Discovery. 

Avere to be attacked and cut off in the streets. Already all 
kinds of missiles had been collected on the flat roofs, the side 
streets had been stopped by ditches and stakes, and an army 
of 20,000 Aztecs had been drawn together before the town, 
who were to advance at the first signal. Such were the 
orders of Montezuma. 

Cortes, who at first was utterly perplexed at so great a 
■danger, soon recovered his presence of mind, and determined 
to forestall the treacherous act by a fearful blow. Under the 
pretext of immediate departure he collected several thousand 
of the bravest Cholulans in the court of the temple in which 
he was living, and had them all cut down at a given sign. 
Then began a desperate attack of the people on the Spaniards, 
who made sorties and drove back the raging crowd. When 
the Tlascalans, according to agreement, forced their way into 
the town and fell upon the enemy in the rear, the victory was 
decided. Slaughter and rapine swept the beautiful city ; some 
of the streets and the most important temples, in which the 
Cholulans desperately defended themselves, were set on fire, 
and it seemed likely that the whole city would be destroyed, 
when Cortes caused the battle to cease and offered the van- 
quished mercy. Order was soon restored, but Cholula had 
for ever lost its splendour. 

This bloody act spread far and wide terror and supersti- 
tious fear of the strangers, who were not only invincible in 
battle, but could be injured by no treacherous deceit. Mon- 
tezuma trembled on his throne. He sent again an embassy 
to the Spanish camp with rich presents, and he asserted his 
innocence of the treachery : the troops had been only as- 
sembled to suppress an insurrection ; and as for the treache- 
rous Cholulans, they had only got their deserts. Cortes ap- 
peared to believe in Montezuma's innocence and started for 
Tenochtitlan. The nearer they came to the seat of the Em- 
peror the more carefully did they take every precautionary 



Hernando Cortes. 283 

measure. They did not relax their caution for a moment, 
but marched in perfect readiness for battle. 

At last the heights were reached from which opened upon 
them the beautiful view of the lakes of Mexico. With de- 
lighted astonishment the travellers saw at their feet the 
elitterinsr sheets of waters, with innumerable white towns and 
villages lying on their shores, and in the centre the stately 
imperial city with its imposing palaces and pointed temples. 
Above it rose the lofty mountain of Chapoltepec with its 
strongly fortified castle. All around stretched wide plains of 
garden and arable land, interspersed with oak and cedar 
woods, which grew thicker away from the city up the beau- 
tiful slopes of the hills. 

"And even now," says Prescott, "when so sad a change 
has come over the scene ; when the stately forests have been 
laid low, and the soil, unsheltered from the fierce radiance of 
the tropic sun, is in many places abandoned to sterility ; when 
the waters have retired, leaving a broad and ghastly margin 
white with incrustation of salts ; while the cities and hamlets 
on their borders have mouldered into ruins, — even now that 
desolation broods over the landscape, so indestructible are 
the lines of beauty which nature has traced on its features, 
that no traveller, however cold, can gaze on them with any 
other emotions than those of astonishment and rapture." 

The admiration, however, excited in the minds of the 
Spanish soldiers soon yielded to fear at the thought of the 
disproportion between their small force and the countless 
numbers of this brave and powerful people, whose beautiful 
home they had come in insolent confidence to conquer, and it 
needed all the forcible eloquence of their leader to reassure 
their fainting courage. With redoubled caution, by slow 
marches they descended into the populous plain, whose inha- 
bitants, full of curiosity but in no hostile spirit, crowded to 
see the strangers. Once more came messengers from Monte- 



284 A Century of Discovery. 

zuma, showing that the superstitious Emperor was at an end 
of all his resources, and begged them earnestly not to enter 
the capital, and promised in return for this concession to give 
the general and his captains enormous sums of gold, and to 
pay a yearly tribute to their King. 

Thus, tortured by blind fear, did the Prince of a mighty em- 
pire humble himself before a handful of adventurers, not having 
yet tried the strength of the forces at his command. Truly the 
superstition and weakness of Montezuma were the best allies 
of the bold Spaniard, who without them had scarcely suc- 
ceeded in his rash enterprise. Of course Cortes, with the un- 
moved composure which had already many times stood him 
in good stead, insisted upon entering, and Montezuma found 
himself obliged to consent. The Emperor's nephew, Cacama> 
King of Tezcuco, appeared to welcome the strangers, and 
when the Lake of Chaico was crossed by a great causeway, 
Cailkahua, Montezuma's brother, met them and conducted 
them to his royal city, Iztapalapa, in the palaces and far-famed 
gardens of which they found a splendid reception. 

Iztapalapa lay on the shores of the lake, and at the 
mouth of the gigantic causeway leading across the lake to 
the capital, which appeared to float on the clear waters. From 
this point began on November 8th, 15 19, the entry of the 
Spaniards. For hours the little army marched along the 
stupendous causeway, formed of gigantic blocks of stone and 
broad enough to allow ten men to ride abreast. Along each 
side lay hundreds of boats in which the curious Indians 
watched the strange procession. After a long ceremonious 
welcome from Aztec chieftains, the Spaniards passed by a 
wooden drawbridge into the town^ at the entrance of which 
the Emperor himself met them. Surrounded by a crowd of 
the most illustrious of the land appeared the glittering litter 
borne by nobles. Over the head of the sacred person of the 
ruler four chiefs bore a canopy formed of brilliant feathers. 




MEETING OF CORTES AND MONTEZUMA. 



Hernando Cortes. 285 

adorned with jewels and mounted in silver. Beneath it was 
Montezuma, a majestic man of about forty years of age, 
slight in figure, and with earnest dignified features. 

On arriving near the royal litter Cortes dismounted and 
approached the Prince respectfully, who on his part, supported 
by his brother and nephew, rose and advanced some steps to 
meet the Spaniard. The strange interview, which one had 
tried as hard to avoid as the other had to procure, was short 
and formal. Montezuma bade the Spaniard welcome and 
promised him a friendly reception, and Cortes returned his 
thanks and hung round the Emperor's neck a chain of bright- 
coloured cut glass, which was esteemed of value in Mexico. 
He was about to embrace Montezuma but was prevented by 
those around him, who considered such an act a desecration 
of the imperial majesty. Then Montezuma returned to his 
litter over carpets spread by his retinue, that the feet of the 
ruler might not be defiled by the earth. All bent low in the 
presence of the monarch, and many in the excess of their 
reverence fell with their faces on the ground. Slowly the 
royal procession departed, while the Spaniards marched with 
flying colours and martial music into the town. 

The great street along which the procession passed was 
broad and often crossed canals, by which the whole town was 
intersected, and upon which a verj'" large traffic was carried 
on by means of flat boats. Thus the markets of the capital 
were provided from the surrounding country. The houses 
along the street were mostly built of a red stone found 
in the neighbourhood, and presented generally a very stately 
appearance. All had flat roofs, which were turned into 
fragrant gardens by the numerous flowers growing in pots. 
Among the houses of the citizens appeared the great palaces 
of the nobles, covering mostly a great space, and enclosing a 
a shady court with cooling fountains. Close by were gigantic 
temples with their strange pyramids, and from the open spaces 



286 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

could be seen the snowy summits of the neighbouring moun- 
tains looking down upon the town. The splendid sight was 
enlivened by the immense crowds of people surging through 
the streets to enjoy the unwonted spectacle, few of whom had 
any foreboding of the disastrous future in store for the Aztec 
people through these iron-clad strangers. And as these 
marched on in exulting pride, the brilliant variety of strange 
sights which passed before their eyes made an ineffaceable 
impression upon their rough minds. 

A gigantic temple of the god of war was appointed for their 
residence, and there Montezuma with exquisite courtesy again 
appeared to bid them welcome. The prudence of Cortes 
soon changed it into a fortress, the entrance of which was 
covered by the cannon, and his soldiers being forbidden on 
pain of death to leave the temple without permission, he 
went himself the next morning with a slender retinue to 
return the Emperor's visit. The palace to which he was con- 
ducted consisted of a great num.ber of low stone buildings 
spread over a very large space. In the courts played foun- 
tains of bright water brought in pipes from Mount Chapol- 
tepec, the whole town being supplied by the same means. 
The enormous rooms were lined with carved sweet-smelling 
wood, the floors were covered with mats made of palm leaves, 
tapestry of feather work adorned the walls. The air was 
laden with choice scents, and the Spaniards half-intoxicated 
were led from room to, room until they found themselves in 
the presence of the Emperor, who received them surrounded 
by his chief nobles. The conversation which ensued, in 
which Cortes immediately set forth the truths of the Christian 
religion without making any impression on the mind of the 
King, is chiefly important for the declaration of Montezuma 
that he was ready to acknowledge the supremacy of the King 
of Spain — a declaration of which Cortes soon made use 
against the Prince. Overwhelmed with presents, the Spaniards 



Hernando Cortes. 287 

were graciously allowed to depart. The people were very 
cordial to their Emperor's guests, letting them saunter unmo- 
lested through the streets and markets. Cortes in Monte- 
zuma's company even ascended the famous temple of the 
god of slaughter, and enjoyed the wonderful view over the 
whole valley of Mexico — a refreshing contrast to the blood- 
stained ground, the hideous idols and the altar awaiting new 
victims. With difficulty Cortes restrained his zeal for the 
conversion of the people, knowing it to be in vain. The 
Spanish soldiers were allowed to visit in troops the wonders 
of the capital — the provisions supplied to them at Monte- 
zuma's expense were excellent. Yet in spite of all this 
anxiety filled the hearts of all, and chiefly of the general. 
How could they leave the great city } By a secret departure 
or in open day with the knowledge of the Emperor } And 
was it advisable to leave the city } Would it not be giving 
up the advantage they had gained, and destroying the prestige 
which their success hitherto had won for them } 

To these considerations Cortes put an end by a decision which 
accorded with his daring nature. He chose the boldest way,. 
thus putting the finishing stroke to his hitherto uninterrupted 
success. He determined to seize as hostage the sacred person 
of his host, and thus through the Emperor himself impose 
upon the land the Spanish rule. A pretext was soon found 
in the conduct of an Aztec chieftain who had attacked the 
Spanish garrison of Vera Cruz. Several Spaniards had fallen 
in the battle — Escalante himself, the commander of the 
fortress, had died of his wounds, and the victorious chief had 
aroused the country far and wide against the strangers. For 
this Montezuma was to be made responsible. Cortes at an 
audience demanded the punishment of this chief, and when 
Montezuma had consented to this, he requested further that 
until the matter was settled the Emperor would remove his 
residence to the palace inhabited by the Spaniards. This 



2 88 A Century of Discovery. 

■demand excited the Prince to the utmost. " Has anybody 
ever heard such a thing," he cried, flaming with anger, " as a 
great Prince like me wiUingly leaving his palace to become a 
prisoner in the hands of strangers ? And even were I to con- 
sent to such a humiliation, my subjects would never agree to 
it !" All persuasion, all remonstrances were in vain, and the 
utmost which Cortes could obtain was a promise from Mon- 
tezuma to deliver to the Spaniards as hostage one of his 
■children — a promise which did not satisfy him. Two hours 
passed in these fruitless negotiations, when the Knight 
Velasquez de Leon exclaimed in wild impatience, "Why do 
we waste words on these savages .'' We have gone too far to 
retreat now. Let us seize him, and if he resists cut him down 
with our swords." 

When the meaning of these threats had been explained by 
Marina to the Emperor in answer to his anxious inquiry, all 
power of resistance seemed gone. He felt that an irresistible 
fate was opposed to him to which he must bend. Deadly 
pale he arose, and almost inaudibly declared himself ready to 
follow the Spaniards. His litter was immediately prepared, 
and all arrangements made for his removal. When the people 
saw their Prince in the midst of the strangers passing to their 
residence, a loud outcry arose, and attempts were made to 
stop the procession by violence. But Montezuma himself 
interposed. If the Spaniards knew his weakness, his people 
should not guess his shame, and so he found strength to quiet 
the people, and to assure them that he was going of his own 
free will to visit the Spaniards. The people immediately dis- 
persed. This event itself proved how serviceable the instru- 
ment would be with which Cortes intended to subdue the 
land. 

In the quarters of the Spaniards the unhappy Prince was 
received with an ostentatious show of honour. The best rooms 
were chosen for him, and furnished with the splendour to 



Hernando Cortes. 289 

which he was accustomed. A numerous court attended him 
wherever he went, and in his manner of life there was no 
alteration. All affairs of government continued to be con- 
ducted in his name, and the etiquette by which his sacred 
person was protected was rigorously observed by the 
Spaniards. Montezuma submitted to his fate without mur- 
muring. He watched with interest the military exercises of 
the Spaniards, spoke to them individually, and gave them all 
proofs of his goodwill and generosity. He took a special 
liking to some of the Spanish knights, playing at the national 
games with them, and by his friendly amiable behaviour won 
the affection of his gaolers. For that he was a prisoner he 
could not conceal from himself, though he sought carefully to 
hide it from his Aztecs. A strong Spanish guard was posted 
in his anteroom, and admission to his person could be obtained 
only through the general. In the meantime Cortes, by Mon- 
tezuma's commission, examined the captive chieftain and 
condemned him to be burnt. The sentence was carried out 
on the unhappy man, forsaken by his own master, in the court 
of the palace, the imperial arsenals being plundered at Cortes's 
command to form the pile, that no weapons might be forth- 
coming in case of a rising. During the execution Cortes 
put the captive Emperor in fetters that he might in this 
way, he said, atone for his share in the attack made on the 
Spaniards. 

This unexpected disgrace deprived the unfortunate man of 
speech. Bursting into tears he submitted without resistance, 
and it was touching to see how tenderly his attendants 
held his feet in their arms, trying by soft cloths to mitigate 
the pressure of the cold iron. After a short time the chains 
were removed, but the whole proceeding had broken the 
Emperor's proud heart. Cortes thought he had by this time 
sufficiently humbled his prisoner, and offered him a free return 
to his royal palace, but Montezuma sorrowfully refused. How 

19 



290 A Centtcry of Discovery. 

could he after such humihation return to the throne of his 
fathers? And how would he be received by the proud nobles who 
esteemed before all the glory and greatness of their country ? 
He preferred to remain in captivity, which in future became 
much milder. He visited the principal temple to perform his 
devotions ; in the ships built by the Spaniards he made trips on 
the lake, and several times hunted in his parks. . Of course a 
Spanish general always accompanied him, but he never made 
any attempt to escape from his miserable position. Indeed he 
took the part of the Spaniards against the Aztecs in every 
attempt made by them to shake off the foreign yoke. Cortes 
was warned by him of the rising planned by the chiefs of the 
land, and he helped to bring the King of Tezcuco, the head of 
the conspiracy, into the power of the Spaniards, by whom 
he was kept in close confinement. At last he determined 
solemnly to take the oath of homage to the King of Spain. 
The ceremony was performed before a great assembly of 
nobles whom he desired to follow his example. As sign of 
their submission they brought gold and articles of value in 
such quantities that the royal fifth, which was conscientiously 
deducted, amounted to 32,400 ounces of gold — according to 
the present value nearly ;^i 30,000. But most earnestly 
did Montezuma defend himself from the impatient desire of 
the Spaniards that the chief temple should be cleared for the 
public exercise of their religion, and he warned them plainly 
of the unfavourable impression which such an insult to their 
religious feelings would excite in the people. 

But again and again the Spaniards repeated their demand, 
and at last an agreement was come to by which one of the 
towers of the Teocalli was given up to them for their worship. 
They immediately took away the idols, cleansed the space of 
the blood of the sacrifices, and erected an altar on which they 
placed an image of the Virgin. Their religious zeal was now 
satisfied, and with pious devotion they saw the cross shine 



Hernando Cortes. 291 

in the highest place of the capital. But the truth of Monte- 
zuma's warnings immediately showed itself The friendly 
intercourse between the people and the Spaniards was ex- 
changed for a cold reserve, and by the Emperor's own mouth 
Cortes was informed that the whole land was preparing to 
revenge the injury done to the gods. 

While he was engaged in preparing to meet this expected 
insurrection, bad news reached him from the coast. There a 
■squadron of eighteen ships had arrived, sent by Velasquez 
from Cuba to chastise his rebellious general, and assert his 
rights to the rich land of Mexico. To the command of this 
■ fleet he had named a Castilian nobleman, Pamphilo de Nar- 
vaez, entrusting him with an army of 900 men, including 
eighty horsemen and eighty musketeers, with a good store of 
cannon. 

Trusting in this powerful force, Narvaez, who had landed 
on April 23rd, 1520, at San Juan de Ulua, was full of rash con- 
fidence, which was not shaken by the news of the great suc- 
cesses gained by Cortes. But his soldiers were dazzled by 
the glamour which such heroic deeds had cast over the name 
of the great warrior, and by the news of the riches which had 
fallen to the share of Cortes's army. 

Comparing the friendliness, generosity, and martial talents 
of Cortes with the arrogance, niggardliness, and blind self- 
confidence of Narvaez, a feeling of detestation arose in them 
towards their commander. Cortes took advantage of this 
feeling. He hastily determined to quit Tenochtitlan with 
only seventy men, leaving behind him a garrison of 140 
under Pedro de Alvarado, whom, on account of his long fair 
hair and majestic mien, the Mexicans called Tonatink, that is, 
the sun. In Cholula Cortes met with reinforcements, and 
with a little army of 266 men he surprised his rival on a rainy 
night in Cempoalla. After a short conflict Narvaez was taken 
prisoner, and his troops joined Cortes, hoping under his stan- 

19—2 



292 A Century of Discovery. 

dard to reap honour and gold. Thus the great danger was 
averted, and the Aztecs, who had hoped that the strangers 
would destroy one another, saw the hated Malinche — so they 
called Cortes — return to the capital at the head of an army 
that had been increased threefold. 

Here meanwhile the threatened disturbances had broken out, 
and the brave but incautious Alvarado had hastened the out- 
break by a useless slaughter in which the noblest of the people 
had fallen victims. He despatched messengers to summon 
Cortes, and inform him of the extreme danger threatening the 
weak garrison. By forced marches the latter reached the capital 
on the 24th of June, 1520. But the streets were utterly de- 
serted, and a mysterious silence rested over the whole city. 
In order to avert a renewal of the strife, Cortes set Monte- 
zuma's brother, Cuitlahuatzin, at liberty; but in this courageous 
and able Prince he gave the insurgents exactly the leader whom 
they needed. Under his command all the flower of the Aztec 
race assembled, and after a few days began a desperate attack 
upon the Spanish camp. For several days the Spaniards had 
the greatest difficulty in preventing the enemy from forcing 
an entrance, and the thousands whom they struck down with 
their firearms and swords were immediately replaced by fresh 
battalions, v/ho rushed upon the fortifications with the utmost 
contempt of death. Only at night had the besieged any rest, 
and the frightful struggle was renewed every morning. Many 
were soon disabled, and the complete blockade made a famine 
imminent. 

In this distress Cortes turned to Montezuma, and begged 
his intercession. Although convinced of the utter uselessness 
of such a step, the Emperor allowed himself to be persuaded, 
and dressed in his most magnificent robes, ascended the tower 
of the Palace. The noise immediately ceased, the raised 
lances fell, and the Aztecs gazed with awe at their imprisoned 
Emperor. There was a silence as of death when Montezuma 



Hernando Cortes. 293 

began to speak. But when he desired that they should allow 
his, friends, as he called the detested foreigners, to depart in 
peace, a storm of displeasure overwhelmed the base cowardly 
ruler, who had stooped to become the slave of a foreign 
oppressor, to whom he was willing to surrender even his land 
and his people. Curses were hurled at him, and a hail of 
arrows and stones directed against the person of the Prince 
to whom but a short time before his subjects had offered 
almost divine honours. Hit by a stone on the forehead, the 
unhappy man sank down, and was borne back by the Spaniards 
into the Palace, while his subjects, horrified at their own deed, 
immediately dispersed. 

In vain did Cortes strive to cheer the broken-hearted 
monarch. He lay utterly speechless, and refused to have his 
wound cared for. He was unwilling to survive the injury 
done to him by his own people. When the Spaniards saw 
that his end was near they tried to induce him to embrace 
Christianity, but in vain. Only once did he open his lips in 
order to beg Cortes to commend his children to the favour of 
the Spanish King. He died in the arms of a few faithful fol- 
lowers, who had remained with him, on the 30th of June, 1520, 
at the age of 41, after having reigned for eighteen years, and 
having been for three-quarters of a year the prisoner of the 
Spaniards. 

His death was a great loss to the Spaniards ; with him they 
lost all influence over the Aztec people, w^hose wrath now 
knew no bounds. Storm followed storm, and the wearied 
Spaniards saw the moment approaching when they must be 
overpowered by numbers. There could be no doubt of the 
fate that awaited them. "At last the gods have given you 
into our hands," was the cry of the Mexicans. " Huitzilo- 
potchli has long been looking for his victims. The altar is 
ready, and the knife sharp. None of you can escape, for the 
bridges are broken down." Even the bravest among the 



294 ^ Cejitury of Discoveiy. 

Spaniards began to feel fainthearted, and in the hopeless 
struggle Cortes saw himself obliged to strike some decisive 
blow. 

In order to raise the courage of his men he ordered a great 
sally. It was of the utmost importance to obtain possession 
of the neighbouring temple, from the roof of which the enemy 
cast missiles upon the camp. A picked band of Aztec 
warriors defended the sacred place, and to a man fell before 
the Spanish arms. The fight was particularly fierce iipon the 
flat summit of the building. Here Cortes was in the greatest 
danger. Two young men cast themselves upon him, and it 
was with the utmost difficulty that he escaped from their 
grasp. 

The conquerors at once cast down the hated image of the 
god of slaughter, and set fire to the temple which had been 
the pride of the capital. This deed, which the Spaniards 
looked upon as well-pleasing to God, so raised their courage 
that Cortes determined to make use of the favourable moment 
and begin the perilous retreat. Knowing that all the bridges 
had been broken down, Cortes caused a portable wooden 
bridge to be prepared, and determined that^the retreat should 
be directed in a westerly direction towards the town Tla- 
copan. 

He appointed the night of the ist of July for the attempt. 
The march began in the pre-arranged order about midnight, 
and the Spaniards succeeded in getting safely through the 
town, which was wrapped in sleep, until they came to the be- 
ginning of the causeway. Here they stumbled upon a band 
of Mexicans, who immediately gave the alarm. Soon there 
resounded from all sides the shrill noise of the war horns, 
while the beat of the monstrous drums rapidly brought up 
fresh bands of warriors. While the rearguard could only with 
the greatest loss keep back the raging onset of the Aztecs, 
hundreds of boats had come up on both sides of the causeway. 




CORTES IN DANGER. 



Hernando Cortes. 295 

and from these was poured an unceasing hail of missiles upon 
the army as it strove to advance upon the narrow path. Then 
there was a stoppage. The first breach was reached, and it 
was necessary to lay down the pontoon. This delay was fatal 
to many. At last the onward march was resumed, but soon a 
second breach was reached. A still longer and equally de- 
structive delay ensued, and soon it was known that it had 
been found impossible to take up the pontoon and bring it 
farther. All discipline was then at an end, and the one desire 
of every one was to save his own life. The rearguard pressed 
irresistibly upon those in the van, and drove them nearer and 
nearer to the edge of the abyss. Here the climax of misery 
seemed attained. Happy were those who found a watery 
grave or met with a speedy death from the Mexicans. Many 
were knocked down and stunned, and thus fell alive in the 
hands of their enemies, who kept them as long-desired victims 
for the bloody altars of their gods. At last the terrible gap 
was filled up by cannon, baggage, and the bodies of the slain, 
and over this awful bridge the fugitives made their way. 
There was a third breach to be crossed, but fortunately for 
the fugitives, their pursuers were by this time so occupied with 
the booty that lay scattered along the causeway that the dif- 
ficulty was overcome without much additional loss. By the 
dawn of day the shore was reached, and the exhausted 
warriors halted in a temple near Tlacopan. 

Much cast down, the General reviewed the shattered rem- 
nant of his proud army. What a melancholy sight ! All the 
cannon, the enormous booty, almost all the horses were lost, 
and 400 Spaniards and at least 4000 of the Indian allies had 
perished. This terrible retreat, which they called the Noche- 
triste, was for ever deeply engraved in the memories of the 
survivors. 

And how would it be possible for them, in their exhausted 
condition, weaponless, and deeply cast down by their disaster, 



296 A Century of Discovery. 

to continue the conflict ? How were they to make their way 
to Tlascala, where alone they could feel at all secure, through a 
hostile land, of which all the inhabitants were in arms. But 
the confident bearing of the General inspired the troops with 
fresh courage, and gave them strength to ascend the heights 
which enclose the valley of Mexico, though having continually 
to skirmish with the enemy. After some days' hard march- 
ing, they reached the tableland, and then prepared to ad- 
vance into the friendly Tlascala, when suddenly, on the 8th of 
July, they found themselves face to face with an enormous 
army of the enemy, which filled the whole valley of Otompan, 
or Otumba, and cut off their retreat. According to the re- 
ports of the Spanish writers, it must have been an army of 
200,000 men, who, in proud confidence, displayed the utmost 
pomp. As far as the eye could reach there were shields and 
waving banners, curiously-shaped helmets, forests of glittering 
spears; and the heart even of the bravest must have sunk 
when he compared with it the small number of the Spaniards 
and their allies, ill-armed and enfeebled. But Cortes's heart 
knew neither fear nor despondency. Without delay he placed 
his little army in order of battle, and encouraged it by a 
spirited speech, in which he promised it the protection of God 
and the saints, and painted the delights of rest and refresh- 
ment after this last desperate struggle. Then he ordered an 
immediate charge, and from the height the little band rushed 
upon the enormous masses of the enemy. The shock was so 
great that the foremost ranks were broken^ and a broad road 
was opened for the Spaniards. But in a moment the endless 
masses closed upon them, and raged like a stormy sea 
upon a little island which they threatened to swallow up. 
Opposed to such overwhelming odds, the utmost exertions 
must be powerless. It seemed as if nothing short of a 
miracle could save them. Then Cortes's eagle eye caught 
sight of the General commanding the Aztec army, who was 



Hernando Cortes. 297 

easily recognised by his splendid attire and by the sacred 
standard waving over him. Instantly he resolved what to 
do. At the head of twenty men, to which number his cavalry 
had dwindled down, he cut himself a path through the enemy 
until he stood before this man. With his own- hand he 
stabbed him to the heart, while his companions fell upon the 
body-guard. 

When the Aztecs saw their General fall and the sacred ban- 
ner in the hands of the dreaded strangers, a cry of horror re- 
sounded over the whole battlefield, the huge army broke and 
fled in utter disorder, the pursuing Spaniards and Tlascalans 
cutting them down with horrible slaughter. Twenty thousand 
Aztecs must have fallen in this battle, and the spoil of golden 
and other ornaments found on the dead compensated in some 
measure for the lost treasures of the night. 

After this wonderful victory the march to Tlascala met with 
no further hindrance. There the wearied men were met with 
open arms, and were able to refresh themselves after the in- 
credible exertions of the past week. But a long rest was not 
to Cortes's taste, and he immediately set to work to repair 
the losses he had suffered. He succeeded by his eloquence in 
persuading his companions in arms, who at first desired to 
retreat to the coast and take ship for Cuba, to persevere in the 
glorious enterprise, and again to encounter the dangers from 
which they were but just escaped. With the Tlascalans for 
allies, he forced the countries for some distance round to ac- 
knowledge the King of Spain; and having thus again in- 
spired them with fear of the Spanish arms, he obtained the 
necessary means by the tribute he imposed, and increased the 
number of Indian auxiliaries who were to accompany him 
against Mexico. He laboured so unremittingly to strengthen 
and equip the Spanish army that in a few months it was 
ready for war. He found himself again in command of 40 
horsemen, 80 musketeers, and 500 infantry, armed with 



298 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

swords and long lances. A part of this force were fresh 
troops sent by Velasquez to the support of Narvaez, whom 
he supposed to be in possession of the command. They had 
not for a moment dreamt of joining the victorious standard of 
Cortes, In the same way he had come into possession of 
nine cannon, which accompanied the army. The number of 
Indian auxiliaries — exaggerated no doubt — is estimated at 
100,000 men. 

Before the expiration of the year 1520^ the restless man was 
again on the shore of the lake of Mexico, and fixed his head- 
quarters in the old town of Tezcuco, over which he placed as 
King, Prince Ixtlilxochitl. He wisely abandoned the idea of at 
once beginning the siege of the capital, the white buildings of 
which were reflected in the clear lake ; but spent months In 
isolating it, desolating the land around, and subduing its in- 
habitants. Generally he placed himself at the head of these 
raids, while the trusty Gonsalvo de Sandoval remained be- 
hind in Tezcuco, and superintended the building of the ships 
with which Cortes hoped to rule the lakes. These ships, thir- 
teen in number, were built in Tlascala under the direction of 
an experienced shipbuilder, Martin Lopez, and were then 
taken to pieces^ and the separate parts, together with the 
necessary iron-work, sails, and rigging, carried on the backs 
of thousands of bearers to Tezcuco, a distance of almost 
twenty miles. Even this gigantic undertaking rewarded by 
its complete success the foresight and thought which had 
been expended on its execution. 

At last the necessary preparations were complete. The 
whole region around the lakes was subject to the Spaniards, 
the Aztecs were confined within their island city, and the 
ships were launched at Tezcuco. At the end of May, 1521, 
Cortes thought it was time to begin the attack on the 
capital. He caused the town of Tlacopan to be occupied 
by a division of his men under the command of the Cap- 



Hernando Cortes. 299 

tains Alvarado and Olid, and broke down the aqueduct which 
ran from Chapoltepec to the island. The body of his army, 
under the command of the brave Sandoval, he sent out to 
take possession of Iztapalapa, the key to the southern cause- 
way, and while both these movements were successfully ac- 
complished, Cortes himself moved his fleet — which, to use his 
own expression, he considered the " key of the war " — out 
into the lake, and destroyed a great fleet of Indian boats, 
running down some and sinking others by a heavy fire of grape- 
shot. Then he took possession of the advanced work called 
Xoloc, erected in the centre of the southern causeway, and 
affording a strong position, which Cortes, by means of forti- 
fications and cannons, strengthened still more. 

The town had for a long time been armed for the conflict. 
In the place of Cuitlahuatzin, who had been carried off by the 
small-pox — a disease brought into the land by the Spaniards 
— ^Guatemozin, his nephew, had been chosen, a younger war- 
rior, but one distinguished by his bravery and strength of 
character. He had taken up the sacred struggle for the 
defence of his country against the foreign conquerors with the 
greatest energy, and had inflicted heavy losses upon the 
Spaniards by sudden surprises and ceaseless attacks, at the 
same time rendering their conquest of the surrounding region 
extremely difficult. But he was not in a condition to prevent 
their advance, and was ever obliged to yield to their superior 
arms and to the overwhelming numbers of their Indian allies, 
fired by a desire to avenge themselves on their ancient con- 
querors and by the prospect of rich booty. Still nothing 
could break the spirit of the young Emperor. Without hesi- 
tation, he rejected every offer made him by Cortes, and pre- 
pared to continue the struggle to the death. After the third 
causeway, the one leading to the north was occupied; and Cortes 
began an attack upon the one by which he had first entered 
Mexico. The many gaps in this were defended by walls and 



300 A Century of Discovery. 

strong bodies of men ; but the guns of the ships cleared a 
passage for the infantry. One breach after another was passed 
and then filled up with stones, until at last the entrance of the 
city was gained. The streets were found to be intersected by 
many ditches and walls, behind which the principal forces of 
the Aztecs were established, while a murderous hail of missiles 
fell upon the heads of the assailants from the roofs of the 
houses. It was not possible for the Spaniards to establish 
themselves in the city. They succeeded by desperate charges 
in penetrating to the great square in the middle of the city, 
but were continually forced to retreat again. For several 
days these vain attempts were repeated, and some palaces 
were set on fire. Even during the night the wearied com- 
batants could have little rest, for they were obliged to be con- 
stantly on the watch against surprises on the part of Guate- 
mozin. 

At last Cortes was over-persuaded by his captains against 
his better judgment to order a general assault. At first, in- 
deed, everything seemed to prosper, for the separate storming 
columns penetrated far into the town. But at a given signal 
they were attacked and compelled to retreat ; and in the re- 
treat they suffered heavy loss, especially at the passages over 
the numerous canals which intersected the streets. Even 
Cortes was in extreme danger, and was only saved from the 
terrible fate of falling ahve into the hands of the enemy by 
the self-sacrifice of some of his devoted adherents. The 
attack was drawn oft" on all sides, and while the Spaniards 
returned downcast into their quarters, the whole city echoed 
with sounds of festive joy. As the evening advanced the 
besiegers saw with horror all the temples lighted and pre- 
pared for the bloody human sacrifices. Indeed, the clearness 
of the air allowed them to see the torturing and the slaughter 
of the prisoners. 

The priests now announced to the Aztecs that Huitzilo- 



Hernando Cortes. 30 r 

potchli, pleased with the rich offering that had been presented 
to him, would again have mercy upon his people, and within 
three days deliver all the strangers into their hands. This 
prophecy flew with the speed of lightning, and at one and the 
same time inspired the Aztecs with fresh courage, and filled 
the hearts of the superstitious allies of the Spaniards with dis- 
may, and led them to creep away from the camp by thou- 
sands. It was not until the week had passed away without 
the prophesied destruction of the Spaniards that they returned 
ashamed. 

Rendered wise by the unhappy issue of the attack, Cortes 
determined to attempt the conquest of the city in a surer 
though more tedious way. He caused the town to be closely 
blockaded by his ships and by numerous Indian boats, so 
that no supplies could be brought in. He reckoned that 
famine must soon ensue, and the strength of the opposition 
be overcome. The cold-bloodedness with which he thus de- 
voted thousands to the most miserable death becomes more 
terrible when we consider the methodical manner in which he 
arranged the destruction of the town. Each day a certain 
part of the city was taken possession of and utterly destroyed. 
The ruins of the houses were made use of to fill up the canals, 
and thus a broad ever-increasing plain was procured, which 
gave the Spaniards plenty of room for their military opera- 
tions, and offered the besieged no cover for their surprises. 
It was only after a bitter struggle that Cortes resolved upon 
this terrible plan, which devoted to destruction the beautiful 
city that would have been the crowning trophy of his con- 
quest. 

On reading the report sent to the Spanish King by Cortes, 
in which he describes the painful necessity for the destruction, 
and the fearful execution of the plan, one cannot but feel that 
it must have been written with tears in his eyes. But he saw 
no other way of overcoming the desperate resistance of the 



302 A Cenhiry of Discovery. 

Aztecs. Guatemozin had rejected all the terms of peace that 
Cortes had made to him, and, following the counsel of the 
priests, resolved to continue the struggle to the very last. 
With wild joy the Indian allies welcomed the new plans of 
attack on the capital, which gave promise of satisfying their 
thirst for revenge on their oppressor, and the charges that 
Cortes gave them to spare the wounded fell on deaf ears. 

Through the whole month of July the fight was continued 
according to the new system. The Spaniards pressed upon the 
city on three sides, under Cortes, Alvarado, and Sandoval. 
The Spanish infantry went first with cannons and muskets 
and drove, the Aztec warriors out of certain streets. Then 
they made a stand and defended themselves against the 
attacks of the enemy, while the Indian allies destroyed the 
captured houses. That accomplished, the Spaniards relin- 
quished their position, which it would have been impossible 
to maintain on account of the stench from the dead bodies, 
and retreated to the camp. This method of fighting caused 
them but small loss, and they only suffered from the bad weather 
and want of rest. But fearful were the sufferings of the be- 
sieged. Famine and pestilence rapidly lessened their numbers, 
and their Indian foes mercilessly slaughtered every Aztec who 
fell into their hands. With every step that the Spaniards 
advanced, more terrible were the scenes of grief and misery 
that were displayed. They found the earth dug up in the 
search for roots and worms, the trees stripped of their young 
shoots, their foliage, and their bark. Crowds of half- starved 
Mexicans crept about like spectres in streets and market-places, 
which had once been lively and animated. Corpses lay un- 
buried in heaps about the streets, making the air pestilential 
— a proof of the utmost distress, for the Aztecs considered 
it a sacred duty to bury the dead. More horrible still were 
the sights that presented themselves to the Spaniards on 
entering the dwellings. On the floor lay the miserable re- 



Hernando Cortes. 



6^0 



mains of the inmates, some still in the death struggle and 
others already decomposed ; distracted mothers with their 
infants dying before their eyes of starvation ; wounded men 
trying in vain to crawl away as their enemies entered. But 
they all disdained to ask for mercy, meeting the foe with the 
•savage implacable stare of a wounded tiger tracked by the 
hunter to his last hiding-place. In vain were the repeated 
commands of the Spanish General to spare the poor defence- 
less wretches. His Indian allies made no distinction; with 
wild cries of victory they pulled down the burning buildings 
on the heads of the miserable people, and the flames con- 
sumed the living and dead in one common funeral pile. 

Thus the beautiful city was laid in ashes, and its inhabitants 
died daily by thousands. The three divisions of the Spanish 
force met on the smoking ruins before the last quarter of the 
town into which the miserable remnant of the population had 
fled. New offers of peace were rejected by Guatemozin with 
the old constancy. So the struggle began again for this last 
refuge of the besieged, who defended themselves in vain with 
unequalled fury to the utmost of their power. On the 13th 
of August the Spaniards poured in like an irresistible torrent 
•over the last bulwarks, their progress being marked by streams 
of blood and flames running from street to street. During 
the melee a crowd of boats were pushed from the shores and 
endeavoured to make their escape over the lake. But the 
Spanish ships were on the watch. Some of the largest boats 
were overtaken by the ship of the Captain Garcias Holguin, 
and while he was preparing to sink them the Indians gave 
him to understand that the Emperor was among them. At 
the same moment a young warrior in armour rose and shouted, 
^' I am Guatemozin. Take me to Malinche, I am his prisoner, 
but do my wife and followers no harm." The prisoners were 
taken on board the Spanish ships, and the Emperor being 
asked to stop the battle by a command to his subj ects, replied, 



304 A Centtiry of Discovery. 

" It is not necessary : they will cease to fight when they see 

that their Prince is a prisoner." He was right, the Aztecs at 

this intelligence gave up the struggle and submitted to their 

fate. On shore Cortes came to meet the imperial prisoner, 

and saluted him with chivalrous courtesy. The captive 

answered with dignity : " I have done all I could to defend 

myself and my people. Now I am reduced to this condition. 

You, Malinche, will do with me as you please." Then laying 

his hand on the hilt of the dagger which Cortes wore in his 

girdle, he added with vehemence, "But I would you would strike 

me down with this dagger and deliver me from life." Cortes 

tried to soothe him. " Fear nothing," he said, "you shall be 

treated with every respect. You have defended your capital 

like a brave soldier, and a Spaniard knows how to value bravery 

even in an enemy." He sent him, together with his young 

wife, a daughter of Montezuma's, and the chief of his followers, 

under Sandoval's care, to a town on the neighbouring coast. 

The siege was at an end, the town was razed to the ground. 

The remains of the population, about 30,000 men, marched in a 

long sorrowful procession out of the city of their fathers. 

About 200,000 must have fallen victims to the sword, the 

flames, famine, and the pestilence during the course of the 

siege. The besiegers calculated their loss, by which their 

Indian allies mostly suffered, at 30,000 men. It was weeks 

before the scene of this terrible struggle was cleared of the 

dead bodies and the pestilential atmosphere sweetened by the 

fresh sea-breezes. In the meantime the victorious army was 

occupied in feasting, thanksgiving, and dividing the spoil. 

This was considerable, 130,000 ducats in value, but far from 

satisfying the exaggerated expectations which the Spaniards 

had cherished. The ill-temper of the .troops vented itself in 

bitter language, and at last turned upon Cortes, whom they 

accused of dishonesty. They demanded that the imprisoned 

Emperor should be put to the torture, in the hopes of discover- 



Hernando Cortes. , 305 

ing from him the place where he had hidden his treasures. 
When Cortes refused, he was suspected of a secret under- 
standing with the prisoner, and so in an evil hour he gave his 
consent to the torture. It was vain, as might have been ex- 
pected, and Guatemozin bore it with the patient courage 
which distinguished the unfortunate man. When his com- 
panion in suffering, the King of Tlacopan, broke out into 
groans, he reproved him with the words : " Do you think, then, 
that I am lying on a bed of roses T The wretched proceed- 
ing was soon put an end to by Cortes, but it was too late to 
prevent the stain which had been inflicted on his honour. 

The fall of the capital rendered the rule of the Spaniards 
over the whole land secure. Even princes who had not been 
tributary to the Aztec monarch submitted to the mighty 
stranger, and did homage to the King of Spain. Arms were 
laid aside, and Cortes devoted himself to the ordering of the 
conquered land, in which he showed the same skill and un- 
tiring energy as he had done in its subjection. The capital 
rose again out of its ashes, although with a very changed ap- 
pearance. Many of the canals were filled up, the streets were 
widened, and a number of churches built, of which the most 
splendid was the great cathedral dedicated to St. Francis, 
which rose in the place of the principal temple, and the 
foundation of which was composed of the uncouth images of 
±he fallen idols. Rows of stately stone buildings lined the 
streets in which the Spaniards dwelt who settled in the city, 
while Cortes built for himself a spacious palace in the neigh- 
bourhood of the cathedral. For the defence of the capital 
Cortes built a fortress and provided it with seventy guns, 
some of which he took from the dismantled ships at Vera 
Cruz, and some were cast in a foundry that he had 
established in the land. Only four years after the taking of 
the city it presented again a pleasant, almost splendid ap- 
pearance, and was inhabited by 2000 Spanish and 30,000 

20 



3o6 A Century of Discovery. 

Indian families, Cortes was not less zealous for the spiritual 
welfare of the people. At his invitation numbers of priests 
came from the West Indies, and threw themselves with such 
zeal into the work of conversion that within twenty years all 
the inhabitants of this extensive country belonged by name 
to the Christian Church, mingling-, however, with their new 
faith much of their hereditary superstition. 

Cortes took great pains to discover the natural sources 
of the wealth of the land, oj^ened some silver mines, and in- 
troduced useful plants. In the most important places he 
founded new towns, among other Zacatula, for which he 
anticipated a great future. Here he caused a fleet to be built 
for exploration and conquest as far as Asia, while at the same 
time he sent out ships from Vera Cruz to try and discover the 
long-sought-for passage from one ocean to the other on the 
northern coast of the Mexican Gulf By means of his 
generals, Alvarado and Olid, he took possession of the 
southern lands of Guatemala and Honduras, and here a 
flourishing colony soon sprang up. 

The most serious difficulty which the great man had to con- 
tend with was the satisfying of his greedy countrymen who 
settled down in the most beautiful and fruitful neighbourhoods. 
Very unwillingly he saw himself obliged to, consent to the intro- 
duction of the wretched system of rcpartimcntos. He took care 
that the burden of servitude should fall only upon those races 
that had been guilty of treason and cruelty to the Spaniards, 
and he tried to protect the slaves by a number of laws intended 
to restrain the tyranny of the masters. In order to prevent 
the pillage which had been so injurious in the West Indian 
colonies, he made a number of enactments which were all 
calculated to chain the white settler to the land, and to lead 
him for the sake of his own interest to cultivate the soil. The 
allotments of land only became the property of the colonists 
when they had held them for eight years, and they had to 



Hernando Cortes. 307 

prove that they were worthy of the gift by the care which 
they bestowed upon them during that period. Every married 
man was forced to bring his wife into the country on penalty 
of losing the land allotted to him, and every bachelor was 
compelled to marry within a certain period on the same 
penalty. It was owing to these enactments that the new 
state became much more quickly than the other colonies had 
done the home of a large number of Spanish families who 
settled on their possessions, instead of wishing to return to 
their old homes after a few years with their spoils. By other 
laws the settler was pledged to take into cultivation yearly a 
certain piece of land, and to reside in the town for a portion 
of every year. 

Beneficial as these laws for the most part were to the 
development of the infant state, and high as is the opinion 
which they give of the sagacity of the conqueror, yet they 
created much displeasure in the minds of those whom they 
affected. The sensitive and suspicious disposition of the 
Spaniard showed itself in a very ugly light, and persons whom 
the great man had overwhelmed with benefits calumniated 
and accused him at the Spanish Court, There from the very 
beginning the question had been undecided how Cortes should 
be treated. Velasquez was indefatigable in his complaints, 
demanding to be invested with the government of Mexico, 
and he had a powerful supporter in Bishop Fonseca, the leader 
in Indian Affairs. Together they had succeeded in send- 
ing out a plenipotentiary, Christoval de Tapia, who was to 
call Cortes to account. The latter, however, by bribery had 
prevailed upon him to leave the country. He had also at 
court warm partisans, especially the Duke of Bejar and the 
Count of Aguilar. 

But his wonderful exploits and the valuable services by 
which he had so greatly extended the Castilian power inter- 
ceded still more strongly for him. And so the Emperor 

20 — 2 



3o8 A Century of Discovery. 

Charles V. signed a decree at Valladolid, October 15th, 1522, 
by which Cortes was made Governor, Commander-General, 
and Supreme Judge of New Spain, as Mexico was then called, 
Avith a considerable salary. This decision so affected his chief 
opponents Velasquez and Fonseca that they fell sick and soon 
after died. In Mexico, on the contrary, it caused universal joy, 
and for a while all his calumniators were silenced. We hear 
nothing more of them until the long absence of Cortes between 
the years 1524 and 1526. At that time he undertook an 
expedition to Honduras to reduce to submission by force of 
arms its conqueror Olid. The march was through perfectly 
unknown regions, where the climate was pestilential and the 
hardships and sufferings were very great. On this expedition 
the unfortunate Guatemozin, whom Cortes for security had 
carried with him, came to a sad end. He was accused of 
having taken part in a conspiracy by which the Spaniards 
were to be destroyed in an almost inaccessible pass. Although 
he asserted his innocence, Cortes pronounced sentence of death 
upon him, not so much from a conviction of his guilt as from a 
desire to be rid of the burdensome charge of such an important 
prisoner, and immediately after the sentence the unfortunate' 
Prince, with several companions, was hanged on a tree. He 
died with the greatest composure. " I knew," he said, " what 
it was to trust to your false promises, Malinche ; I knew that 
you had destined me to this fate. Would I had laid hands on 
myself when they led me prisoner to you ! Why do you kill 
me so unjustly .'' God will call you to account for it." These 
words cut Cortes to the heart, and stings of conscience with 
regard to this unrighteous deed of blood tormented him to 
the end of his life. 

As the army passed through the land, the birthplace of 
the interpreter Marina, Cortes parted from his faithful com- 
panion, whom he presented with valuable estates and married 
to one of the knights of his retinue. In Honduras the General 



Hernando Cortes. 309 

found the insurrection already suppressed, and the faithless 
Olid executed. But sickness laid him low, and contrary winds 
long hindered his return. In the meantime the report of his 
death was spread in Mexico, and the royal officers sequest- 
trated his possessions. When in 1526 he returned, the whole 
country received him with extravagant joy. For even the 
natives whom he had subdued had learnt from the oppression 
of the Spanish officials doubly to prize his gentleness and love 
of justice. But with the officials themselves he was hencefor- 
ward at constant feud. Soon after some high Spanish officers 
came to the country to investigate the mutual complaints, and 
one of these, Estrada by name, went to the absurd length 
of ordering the great conqueror to leave the capital, because 
he had interceded for an old comrade, who for some slight 
offence had been sentenced to lose his hand. Cortes obeyed, 
but determined to extricate himself from such an undignified 
position by going to the King himself, and so took ship for 
Spain. 

In May, 1528, he landed in Palos after a prosperous voyage, 
and went to Toledo, where the Emperor at that time resided. 
He was received in the most distinguished manner, and cleared 
himself of all charges and calumnies. The Emperor, who 
personally showed him the greatest attention and loaded him 
with honours, made him Marquis del Valle d'Guaxaca, and 
bestowed upon him in that valley and in other parts of the 
land enormous possessions, in which there were more than 
twenty towns and villages, with 23,000 vassals. 

But the Emperor resolutely refused to entrust him with the 
government of the country, for it was the policy of the Crown 
not to give the rule of a conquered land to the conqueror and 
discoverer, lest he should be too independent and self-im- 
portant. This refusal was rendered less bitter to Cortes by 
the reason assigned, namely, that it was impossible to do 
without his services in the warlike undertakings yet remain- 



3 1 o A Century of Discovery. 

ing to be accomplished, and by his appointment as Com- 
mander-in-Chief for New Spain and the South Seas. 

For two years Cortes remained in Spain, where the most 
distinguished grandees treated him as their equal, and the 
oldest families felt themselves honoured by his alliance. His 
first wife had died in Mexico in the year 1522, and he now con- 
tracted a second marriage with a daughter of the Count of 
Aguilar, and lived in great state. In the spring he returned 
to Mexico, where meanwhile the civil government had been 
established. But all kinds of disagreements between the two 
powers were perfectly unavoidable, and when, in order to put 
an end to this state of things, the Spanish Court forbade 
Cortes to come within ten miles of the capital, he retired 
deeply hurt to Tezcuco, and later to his own city of Cuerna- 
vaca, where he built himself a palace, and took up his per- 
manent residence. 

For the next few years his activity was devoted to the care 
of his extensive estates. He introduced the sugarcane from 
Cuba, and merino sheep from Spain, and planted whole 
hedges of mulberry-trees, in order to promote the production 
of silk. But such a quiet life was not suited to content the 
active soul of Cortes for any length of time. 

Between the years 1532 and 1534 he fitted out in the har- 
bour of Tehuantepec two squadrons, which he sent out on 
voyages of discovery towards the north-west. They discovered 
the peninsula of California, to which Cortes himself conducted 
a colony. But his good luck had forsaken him ; the colony 
could not prosper in that barren land, and when he himself 
set sail on a voyage of discovery, he was driven about by a 
storm in the Gulf of Mexico — which for a long time bore the 
name of Cortes Sea — and at length compelled to return. 

In the year 1539 the indefatigable man sent out a new 
fleet, under the command of his captain Ulloa. This 
brave sailor discovered the north end of the Gulf of Cali- 



Hernando Cortes. 311 

fornia, sailed round the narrow peninsula, and went along 
the west coast towards the north. At twenty-nine degrees 
north latitude he sent back one of his ships to carry news of 
the discovery to the Marquis ; but he himself continued his 
voyage towards the north, and was lost with all his com- 
panions. 

Cortes intended to go with a considerable body of followers 
into the newly-discovered lands to take possession of them 
for the Spanish Crown, and to found a new colony, but was dis- 
turbed in this design by the new Viceroy Mendoza, who 
claimed the right of founding the colony himself, an open in- 
fringement of the right granted by the Emperor to Cortes. 
The latter saw himself thus cheated of the reward of his pains, 
and felt that he had expended enormous sums and burdened 
his estates with debt all for nothing. In order to procure 
justice, he determined to go once more to Spain. 

Accordingly in the autumn of 1540 we find him in Madrid, 
where he had dealings with the Royal Council for India, and 
the next year he accompanied the Emperor in his disastrous 
campaign against Algiers. He was always treated with the 
most honourable attention, but his wishes and his grievances 
were not attended to. Like Columbus he was obliged to re- 
mind his royal master of his incalculable services, but like 
Columbus he saw that they were forgotten. After having for 
some years waited in vain for an improvement in the state of 
affairs, he determined to turn his back upon his ungrateful 
country. Shortly before the time that he had fixed for his 
departure he was attacked by a sickness in Seville, which 
quickly exhausted his strength, and he died in the village 
Castilleja de la Cuesta, on the 2nd of December, i547- He 
was sixty-two years old. His body was first buried at 
Seville, but in 1562 was taken by his son to the New World, 
and interred in Tezcuco. But even here it was not allowed 
to rest. In 1629 it was laid in the cathedral of Mexico, and 



312 A Century of Discovery. 

since 1794 has been buried in the hospital founded by him in 
the capital. 

Cortes left behind him from his second marriage — he had 
no children by his first wife — three daughters, who made 
brilliant marriages, and one son, Martin, w^ho inherited his 
possessions and his title. But in the fourth generation the 
male branch of the family died out, and the inheritance passed 
by marriage into another family. At present the ducal 
family of Monteleone, which boasts of descent from the great- 
granddaughter of the great conqueror, is in possession of his 
title and lands. 



CHAPTER VII. 

FRANCISCO PIZARRO. 

In South America is an elevated plain much resembling 
the tableland of Anahuac, and like it at the time of the 
Spanish discoveries, the seat of a civilised people and the 
centre of a mighty empire, the conquest of which by a hand- 
ful of Spaniards offers a worthy parallel to the exploits of the 
lion-hearted Cortes. Between twenty and twelve degrees 
south latitude there stretches among the peaks of the Cor- 
derillas an uninterrupted series of tablelands, at an elevation 
of 12,000 feet. Almost in the centre of these mountain plains 
lies the great lake of Titicaca, surrounded by gigantic vol- 
canoes. The islands which lie scattered over it are said to 
be the mysterious place in which a powerful state had its 
origin. 

About the year 1000 A.D., so said tradition, which was 
looked upon almost as history^ the rudeness and barbarity of 
the inhabitants of these plains had reached such a point that 
the Sun-god could no longer look upon it. Out of com- 
passion he then sent down two of his children, Manco Capac, 
and his sister and wife, Mama Oello Huaco, to teach the de- 
based people order, morality, and how to lead a happy life. 
These children of the sun descended upon one of the islands 
of Titicaca, and then, obedient to the commands of their 
father, pursued their way towards the north, until the golden 
reed which they stuck every evening in the earth disappeared. 
This spot they chose for their dwelling-place, and called it 



31-4 -^ Century of Discovery. 

Cusco. They collected round them the rude inhabitants of 
the valley and imparted to them their divine message. The 
people willingly listened to them, and learned from them the 
arts of ploughing, spinning, and weaving, being persuaded to 
adopt a settled and industrious life. 

Such was the mythical origin of Cusco. It became the seat 
■of a long series of wise and powerful princes, who were said to 
have sprung from the divine pair, and bore the title of Incas or 
Princes. The blessings flowing from their beneficent and salu- 
tary administration were extended farther and farther, partly 
by the willing submission of the neighbouring tribes, and partly 
by force of arms, for the Incas were all warlike conquerors. 

When the Spaniards entered the country they ruled over 
all the mountain region from twenty degrees south latitude to 
the equator, and over the coast lands from the river Maule in 
Chili (thirty-five degrees south latitude) to the Gulf of Guaya- 
quil (two degrees south latitude). All this extensive territory 
was united in one state, the institutions of which, though 
manifesting much resemblance to those of the civilised states 
of Asia, yet bore the stamp of a unique and highly-interest- 
ing character. 

The rule of the Incas was necessarily absolute, because 
they were held by their subjects to be descendants of the 
gods, and therefore divine beings themselves. The number 
of the Incas was very considerable, for under that name were 
■embraced, not only the reigning Prince, but all who could 
trace back their pedigree in the male line to the divine pair, 
and since every King had many hundred wives, the number, 
of Incas increased with every generation, until they formed 
a numerous aristocracy, ruling the whole country. The King, 
always the eldest son by the only legitimate marriage of his 
father with a sister, considered these noble families as his 
relations, who had a right to a share in the splendour as well 
as the burdens of government, but there was a great distance 



Francisco Pizarro. 315 

maintained between him, and the principal nobles, and none 
dared to venture into the presence of the Son of the Sun 
except barefoot and with a light burden on his shoulder, in 
token of subjection. He was at the head of the priests and 
Jiad the chief seat at the most important religious feasts. 
He took the chief command in war, imposed taxes, gave laws, 
named his officers, who gave account to him. He was the 
source from which all power flowed, and which gave life to 
the whole, state. His appearance was extremely magnifi- 
cent, he . wore long flowing robes of the finest stuff, shining 
with -gold and the rarest jewels, and on his head a bright- 
coloured turban covered with scarlet net, in which were placed 
upright two feathers of a rare bird, which the King alone 
might use for his adornment. 

His throne was surrounded by his relations the Incas, who 
were bound to him, not only by a common origin, but by their 
inclinations and interests. They were distinguished from the 
rest of the people by a special dress and peculiar language, 
and for their support the best parts of the public lands were 
appointed. They lived chiefly at court near the Prince, who 
had been brought up with them, but they held all the high 
■offices in the provinces, and only from among them could the 
higher- priestly offices be filled, being in virtue of their birth 
qualified for priestly functions. The whole race of the Incas, 
as the shape of their sculls shows even now, must have been 
far superior in mental capacity to the other races of the 
country. 

A second and inferior order of nobility consisted of the 
•Curacas, the caciques of subject races and their descendants. 
They were usually continued in their authority, but their 
sons v/ere required to live at the capital as hostages for 
their fidelity. Their power seems usually to have been only 
local, and always subordinate to the authority of the governor 
of the provinces, who was chosen only from the Incas. 



3 1 6 A Century of Discovejy. 

The whole state was divided into four large provinces, each 
ruled by a governor. Under him were the officials in charge- 
of the districts, each of which contained 10,000 inhabitants,, 
and was subdivided into smaller districts of 1000, 500, 100, 
50, down to 10 persons respectively. Each of these had a 
functionary at its head, who was responsible for his subor- 
dinates. The graver offences were brought before the gover- 
nor, lighter ones were punished by the courts of justice of the 
towns or districts, and every province was visited annually by 
commissioners to inquire into the administration of justice. 
The laws were few, but since their transgression was an offence 
against a divine law-giver, it was considered a blasphemy 
against God, and thus the smallest fault deserved death as 
much as heavier crimes. 

But the most peculiar regulations were those connected 
with the political economy of the country. By them all land 
capable of cultivation was divided into three parts, one for the 
sun and his priests, a second for the Prince and his house, and 
the third for the people. The last portion was divided in equal 
parts among the subjects. As soon as any one at the age pre- 
scribed by the law took to himself a wife, a certain lot of land 
was granted to him, which was increased as his family grew. 
This division was revised every year, that it might be always 
accurate. The people were required by the law to cultivate 
their lands and also the portions belonging to the sun and to^ 
the Inca. At daybreak, men, women, and children were called 
to work by the sound of a horn, and appeared adorned as- 
for a feast. They performed their work cheerfully, singing . 
harmoniously the while. First they laboured for the sun, 
then for the old and sick, then they cultivated their own 
land, and lastly that of the Incas. 

The most important of the domestic animals were the 
llamas ; they fed in great numbers on the plains and were the 
objects of the greatest care. They all belonged to the King,. 



Francisco Pizarro. 317 

and their flesh might be used only at court feasts or for sacri- 
fice, but they were very valuable as beasts of burden and for 
Iheir wool. At a fixed time they were shorn and their wool 
brought into the store-houses. Then each family was allowed 
as much as they were considered to need, and the women 
■made it up for the family's use, being required also to work 
for the Inca. There were special officers appointed to super- 
intend, not only the division of the wool, but also the women's 
~work and the collecting of the cloth. 

The mines also, the chief riches of the country, were the 
•exclusive possession of the King, and worked for his advantage. 
As few hands as possible, however, were drawn away from 
agriculture, which was considered the chief occupation of the 
people. It had been carried to a high point, the natural fruit- 
fulness of the soil being increased by manuring with guano, 
which was brought from some little islands directly off the 
■coast. A network of canals, which frequently had to be cut 
underground through the rocks, carried life in all directions, 
and changed deserts into arable land. These singular arrange- 
ments, in which an enlightened despotism was led by its bene- 
volent intentions to establish a communist equality, perfectly 
accomplished its purpose. The subjects were trained in a 
spirit of patient obedience and quiet content, which in every- 
thing that concerned the government saw a proof of super- 
human wisdom. But there was nothing like advance for the 
Peruvian. As he was born, so he must die, and all Piis strivings 
to attain a higher lot were in vain. Even his time was not his 
own. He paid his taxes by work. Therefore the government 
liad a right to treat idleness as a crime that injured the state. 
But the useful side of these institutions was seen not only in 
the constant growth of the national revenues, but also in the 
complete absence of all the passions of envy, ambition, 
avarice, and love of change. As long as people could remem- 
ber everything had run in the same groove, and the Spaniards 



3 1 8 « A Century of Discovery, 

unanimously agreed that no government was better suited to 
the disposition of the people, and that no people could have 
been more contented with its lot or more devoted to its govern- 
ment. 

One of the proofs of the care of the government for the 
general welfare are the wonderful roads which intersected the 
whole land, and the remains of which still excite admiration. 
All the difficulties of the ground — and no land could present 
more or greater — were overcome, rocks were broken through, 
suspension-bridges thrown over wild mountain streams,. 
and ravines filled up. Also, wherever it was possible, water 
was carried along both sides of the roads, and they were 
shaded by trees planted for the purpose. On these roads the 
King travelled about the land and satisfied himself of the 
condition of the provinces. On them the armies also could 
comfortably move about, and messengers carried the reports 
of the governors to the capital. Also, for the comfort of 
travellers, every here and there inns were erected. 

The Peruvians were particularly skilful in masonry. They 
could work huge stones with very simple tools — iron was un- 
known to them — and they fitted them together so perfectly 
that it was impossible to pass the blade of a knife between 
them. In this way they built gigantic fortresses, palaces for 
their kings, and temples for their gods. But how to fit in 
windows and to make pointed roofs to the buildings they did 
not understand. Their houses were dark, with flat roofs made 
of beams tied together, or loosely thatched with straw, the 
rainless climate requiring only shelter from the rays of the 
sun. The houses of the people were built in the simplest 
manner of mud. Next to architecture the Peruvians distin- 
guished themselves by their skill in polishing jewels and 
working gold. This precious metal was not sought for in 
mines, but was found in large masses on the surface, and was 
used for every kind of decoration or utensil connected with 



Francisco Pizarro. 319 

the temples and altars. The Spaniards saw with astonished 
admiration their skilful work, especially noticing the exceed- 
ingly faithful representation of animals and plants made by 
the native goldsmiths with their rude tools. The excellent 
cloth also, prepared from the fine wool of the vicuna, won 
strong approbation from the Spaniards. 

The Peruvians, surpassing the Mexicans in many respects, 
were behind them in possessing no money and trade not being 
encouraged by their government. Still more, the picture 
writing in use in Mexico was unknown to them. They had a 
very imperfect substitute in the quipus, a cord two feet long, 
formed of closely-woven threads of bright colour, from which 
depended a number of little threads. By knotting these 
threads in different ways certain things were expressed, 
and by this quipus not only were the reports of the officials 
communicated, but also the great deeds of the Incas were 
handed down to posterity. 

The Peruvians acknowledged one supreme invisible Being, 
the creator and preserver of the universe, whom they adored 
under the name of Pachacamac and Viracocha, and whose 
temple served as an oracle. But the divinity to whom they 
paid most honour was the sun-god, the ancestor of the Incas, 
who introduced his worship into all the lands conquered by 
them. The ceremonies were full of solemn magnificence, and 
his temples were covered with gold within and without. The 
oldest of these temples stood on an island in the Titicaca Lake, 
but the most splendid was the chief temple of Cusco, covering 
a large space, and the interior of which was literally a vault of 
gold. The number of priests and attendants attached to the 
service of the sun-god was enormous, and the chief priest was 
next in rank to the King himself. To their great surprise, the 
Spaniards found features of their own religious service repeated 
in the Peruvian worship of the sun : the incense in the temples, 
processions, pilgrimages, even convents with their inmates 



320 A Century of Discovery. 

•dedicated to the sun, who led at least as secluded a life as their 
western sisters. Although the Incas cherished an universal 
reverence for their divine ancestor the sun-god, they were 
liberal or politic enough not to forbid divine honour to be paid 
to the gods of the subject nations. Their temples remained 
standing side by side with the new sun temple, and their 
priests were provided from the ample income of the sun, but 
the images of the gods travelled to Cusco, and served there, 
like the chief's sons, as pledges of the fidelity of the new sub- 
jects. The Incas took great pains to further the melting 
together of the different races among their people. For this 
purpose they chose the musical language of Cusco, the Ouichuan, 
for the official language, and appointed teachers of it in every 
district. 

The first information which reached the ears of the Spaniards 
about this wonderful state was very indefinite, and naturally 
chiefly concerned the fabulous riches of the country. Balboa 
had already heard of it, and had formed plans for the conquest 
of this Eldorado, which at last appeared to have been found. 
His ignominious death put an end to these plans, and the 
Spanish Crown lost the man best adapted to carry out the 
gigantic enterprise. His murderer, Pedrarias de Avila, was 
commissioned to search for the wonderful land, and prepare 
for its conquest. With this object in view, he removed the 
capital of his province, Castilla del Oro, from the Atlantic 
coast across the isthmus to the shores of the great ocean 
where, after Balboa's discoveries, the town of Panama had arisen. 
Thence he sent out several times expeditions of discovery, 
but generally they took the direction towards the north, hoping' 
to find the strait which was universally supposed to unite the 
Carribean Sea with the great ocean, and the discovery and 
conquest of Nicaragua which followed, turned the attention of 
Spanish settlers from the south. An expedition was made in 
1522 by Pasual de Andagoya to the west coast of South 



Francisco Pizarro. 321 

America, following in the track of Balboa, but he soon returned 
without having effected anything. At last the man appeared 
who, overcoming all obstacles, was to realise the great plans of 
the unhappy adventurer, and to lift the veil which had hitherto 
protected the golden land from the conquest of the Spaniards, 
Francisco Pizarro, born at Truxillo, a town in Estremadura, 
passed a very obscure youth ; even the year of his birth can- 
not be settled wdth any certainty, but the year 147 1 has been 
named with some probability. He was of illegitimate birth, 
his father, Gonzalvo Pizarro, being a captain in the Castilian 
army, and his mother in a humble position. The boy grew up 
much neglected, without the beneficial influence of family life, 
without any instruction, and, as all accounts agree in stating, 
in the occupation of a swineherd. From this poor position he 
escaped as he grew up, and was one of the first to emigrate to 
the New World in order to seek his fortune. But even there 
he had to go through a rough schooling, and instead of the 
success which he had expected, he met with dangers and a 
hard lot, for so late as 15 10 we find him taking part, in a 
subordinate position, in the expedition of Alonso de Ojeda 
which was planned for the colonisation of Uraba. When Ojeda 
left the colony in order to procure support from Hispaniola, he 
knew none among all his companions to whom he could 
entrust the command of the hungry, sick, and unruly crew 
except the fearless and determined Pizarro. He, true to his 
promise, held out in the fearful position in which he was 
placed for fifty days, and even then delayed his departure 
until death had so decreased his band that those who remained 
could be brought away on the two ships that they possessed. 
During a storm one of these sank, and the other, which bore 
Pizarro, fell in with Enciso, and returned with him to the set- 
tlement they had just left, which, by Balboa's advice, was 
removed to the river Darien. Here, in Santa Maria del Antigua, 
Pizarro became deeply involved in the quarrel which finally 

21 



322 A Century of Discovery. 

ended with the nomination of the bold Balboa to the governor- 
ship. To him Pizarro closely attached himself. He was his 
instructor in the art of keeping a crowd of wild adventurers in 
willing obedience, and of showing to the natives now kindli- 
ness, and now an inflexible severity. He was among the 
brave men who first traversed the isthmus, and the wonderful 
story of an inexhaustible land of gold in the south sank deep 
into his soul. 

Later he united himself to the new Governor Pedrarias, and 
after Balboa's death accompanied him to Panama. After almost 
thirty years' service in the New World he had gained nothing 
beyond a captaincy and an unhealthy piece of land which 
scarcely supported him. He was fifty years old and longed 
for something better, and therefore was easily persuaded to 
undertake the conduct of an expedition to the land of gold, 
for which a man of his military experience, intrepidity, and 
unscrupulosity was exactly fitted. 

He was asked to take a share in the promising undertaking 
by the hot-blooded Diego de Almagro, a man about the 
same age as Pizarro, and one who, like him, had sprung 
from the lowest ranlis, and was an uneducated soldier of fortune. 
The third in the league was Hernando de Luque, a dis- 
tinguished priest from Panama, a man of some influence and 
generally beloved. He it was who drew up the whole plan of 
the undertaking and who assigned to each their parts. In 
November, 1524, Pizarro sailed with two small ships prepared 
by Almagro, which carried about 100 men. But the voyage 
over the unknown sea was far more difficult than had been 
suspected. The adventurers did not succeed in getting farther 
than 7 degrees north latitude, and then, after months of terrible 
want and suffering, were glad to be able to return to Panama. 
AlmagrOj who followed with the third ship, succeeded in 
getting as far as 4 degrees north latitude, but also returned 
without having accomplished anything. But in the struggles 



Francisco Pizan^o. 323 

with the natives, whose territories they plundered, a small 
quantity of gold was obtained, and this kept alive the avarice 
of the adventurers and inspirited them for fresh enterprises. 

The disapproval of the Governor Pedrarias prevented the 
three allies from at once repeating their attempt, but when he 
was superseded by a new Governor, Don Pedro de los Rios, 
all difficulties were quickly removed, and the three men went 
to work with fresh courage. It was then on the loth of March, 
1526, that they concluded the celebrated agreement in which 
they divided among themselves the Peruvian kingdom with 
all its treasures. It was expressly arranged that Luque, who 
provided the necessary money, 20,000 ducats, should have a 
full third of the land repartimentos, gold, silver, and precious 
stones ; and in case the two warriors who conducted the expe- 
dition should be faithless to the agreement, his right was 
acknowledged to claim the whole property. But Luque, a 
priest of only moderate wealth, represented the licenciate 
Espinosa, who employed the treasures of Miaraqua in this 
way. The treaty was drawn up in a religious tone, and the 
historian Robertson cannot help exclaiming, " In the name of 
the Prince of Peace they concluded a treaty which had for its 
object plunder and bloodshed." 

It was very difficult to obtain the necessary crews, for expe- 
ditions to the south were in bad odour even with the well- 
inured Spaniards on account of the almost insupportable 
fatigues to be endured. At last the preparations were com- 
plete, and in the summer of 1526 the bold venture was made 
with two ships scantily manned. At the mouth of the little 
river San Juan, 4 degrees north latitude, the adventurers were 
so fortunate as to find in a little village a rich spoil of gold, 
and while Almagro carried this to Panama in the hope of 
alluring others to join in the enterprise, the daring Pizarro 
sent out the second ship to explore under the command of 
Ruiz, and established himself on the coast, where he remained 

21 — 2 



324 A Cenhiry of Discove7y. 

with a small band tormented by hunger and mosquitos. Ruiz 
returned before Almagro, having crossed the equator on the 
west coast of America, and having gathered from the crew 
of a great Indian boat astonishing accounts of the riches 
and high civilisation of the kingdom of the Incas. Encou- 
raged by this good news, Pizarro, when Almagro returned 
bringing new men, resumed the voyage. But the ships were 
overtaken by dreadful storms, and after being driven hither 
and thither the adventurers found themselves on the shores 
of a well-cultivated land, full of towns and villages, the numer- 
ous inhabitants of which streamed forth armed and showed 
a hostile disposition. The Spaniards saw that they were too 
weak to maintain a struggle with such a superior force ; they 
therefore determined at once to return to Panama and pro- 
cure greater numbers for the enterprise. But a part of the 
crew were to remain behind under Pizarro in order to remove 
any doubt about the determination of the others to carry cut 
their plan. 

For several months these men waited on the little island of 
Gallo, 2 degrees north latitude, for the arrival of the reinforce- 
ments. Plalf-naked and tortured with hunger^ for they had 
nothing to eat but shellfish, they also suffered greatly from 
fearful storms of rain by which the whole island was flooded. 
At last a ship appeared to relieve their miserable condition, 
but it was not Almagro who commanded it, but Tafur. He 
had been sent by the Viceroy with the express command 
to bring the rest of the expedition back to Panama, where 
the second failure of the undertaking had excited great indig- 
nation against its foolhardy authors, and the great sacrifice of 
men which it demanded. 

If Pizarro obeyed the command of the Governor, there was, 
he felt, no hope that a sufficient number of adventurers to 
accomplish his plans would ever again join him. He there- 
fore set the command at nought, and by a short energetic 



Francisco Pisarro. 325 

speech succeeded in inducing thirteen of his companions to 
remain with him. Some provisions being left them, the bold 
men watched their countrymen sail away, and then, by 
means of a rude raft which they constructed, transferred their 
residence to an island called Gorgona, which lay somewhat 
more towards the north. There began again the same life of 
want and misery, which the settlers had to endure for seven 
long months before they descried a sail. This time it was 
the faithful Ruiz, who had importuned the Governor so long 
that at last he allowed him to set sail with a little ship 
manned only by sailors. But this permission was granted 
only on the condition that Pizarro's new expedition should not 
occupy more than six months. 

Without delay he left the island where he had endured so 
much suffering, and a favourable wind carried him to the 
south. On the twentieth day after the departure from Gor- 
gona, the ship rounded a cape, and the adventurers saw 
before them the glorious bay of Guayaquil (2 degrees south 
latitude). It was a magnificent sight. High in the back- 
ground rose the snowy peak of the gigantic Chimborazo and 
Cotopaxi, and from their base down the crescent-shaped 
bay stretched broad forests and well-cultivated plains, while 
nearer the shore rose stately cities. The ship anchored before 
Tumbez, which lay on the south shore of the bay, and almost 
immediately the Curaca sent on board all kind of refresh- 
ments and some live llamas, an attention which Pizarro reci- 
procated by a present of swine and poultry, both unknown 
animals in that country. His messengers returned with a 
favourable report of the inhabitants, whom they described as 
friendly and cordial. They spoke also with admiration of the 
great buildings of the town, particularly of the Temple of the 
Sun, covered with plates of gold and silver, and full of astonish- 
ing treasures. But alluring as these reports sounded, their 
small number forbade the Spaniards to think of satisfying 



326 A Century of Discovery. 

their hunger for gold, and Pizarro enjoined on all his com- 
panions to show the utmost friendship and forbearance in 
their intercourse with the natives. He continued his voyage 
to Santa (8 degrees south latitude) finding the coast every- 
where studded with towns and villages inhabited by a gentle 
and industrious people. He was also able to satisfy himself 
sufficiently that he had reached the long-sought land of gold. 
Returning to Tumbez, where some of the crew settled, he left 
for the north, and in the spring of 1528 ran into the harbour 
of Panama after an absence of nearly two years. 

The news he brought immediately reversed the unfavour- 
able opinion that had been held with respect to the under- 
taking, and he found adventurers enough ready to join him. 
But his associates were of opinion that it would be best to 
obtain first distinct promises and a regular appointment from 
the Court ; and with this object Pizarro was persuaded to 
go himself to Spain. He arrived in Seville in the summer 
of 1528, where, by the influence of Enciso, whom he had as- 
sisted in deposing, he was thrown into prison. But a royal 
command soon set him free ; and at Toledo he maintained his 
claims so convincingly before Charles V., drawing such an 
animated picture of the riches of the land he had discovered, 
that the Indian Council received orders to arrange with him 
at once in the most favourable manner. 

On the 26th of July 1529, a document was signed in which the 
rank and title of Governor, Commander-in-chief, Adelantado, 
and Supreme Judge was conferred upon Pizarro for the province 
of New Castile (the name given to the kingdom of the Incas), 
which he was to conquer. At the same time a revenue of 725,000 
maravedis was conferred upon him, and significant figures were 
added to his coat of arms. But while he took such good care 
of himself, he only procured for Almagro the appointment of 
Governor of Tumbez, with a revenue of 200,000 maravedis, 
and for Luque the bishopric of Tumbez, with an income of 



Francisco Pizarro. 327 

1000 ducats, although before his departure from Panama he 
had pledged himself to obtain for them honours equal to his 
own. By means of money advanced to him from many per- 
sons — among whom was Cortes, who happened to be just then 
in Spain — he was able to equip a little fleet, and, with 250 
chosen men, set sail for the New World in January, 1530. 
Among his companions were his three brothers, Hernando, 
Gonzalo, and Juan, who forsook their humble employments 
in the little town of Truxillo, in the hope of ruling over great 
nations in Peru. In Panama the expedition was delayed by 
a vehement dispute between Pizarro and Almagro, who could 
not forgive the selfish conduct of his colleague, and would 
hardly be pacified. 

It was not until January, i53i, that the three ships, having 
on board, besides the 200 soldiers, twenty-seven horses, pro- 
ceeded on their way — a contemptible force to venture to over- 
throw the enormous and well-ordered kingdom of the Incas. 
But Pizarro's confidence had already endured many hard 
trials, and he doubted not of a favourable termination to the . 
enterprise. His first spoil, worth 20,000 ducats, which he ob- 
tained by assaulting the town of Coaque, he sent back to 
Panama, that more men might be induced to follow under the 
leadership of Almagro. He himself proceeded along the 
coast, meeting with scarcely any opposition until he reached 
the island of Puna, in the Bay of Guayaquil. Here the war- 
like Indians met them in arms, and though after a violent 
struggle they received a serious overthrow, yet the Spaniards 
were left in a situation of great danger, until they were re- 
lieved by the arrival of a fresh force of 100 men under the 
gallant Hernando de Soto. The little army then proceeded 
to Tumbez. When Pizarro five years before first visited the 
kingdom of the Incas, it was under the rule of the powerful 
Huayna Capac, who in his youth had conquered Quito and 
incorporated the great state. But this powerful ruler had 



o 



28 A Cenhcry of Discovery. 



since died, and on his death-bed had made dispositions which 
produced very serious results. According to the unchange- 
able law of the empire, the crown passed to Prince Guascar, 
the eldest son of his queen. But by a princess of Quito he 
had a favourite son, named Atahualpa, who grew up near him 
and won his father's whole heart. From love to him he 
separated from the empire the newly-conquered kingdom of 
Quito, and gave it to his favourite as an independent govern- 
ment. For some years the brothers were very good friends ; 
but at length a war broke out between the two, and the whole 
army, with the best generals, took the side of Atahualpa, who 
had passed his youth in the army, and the rightful King was 
obliged to yield. Before the gates of his own capital, Guas- 
car, a prince of excellent qualities, was overcome and taken 
prisoner, while his fortunate rival obtained the crown, dis- 
gracing his conquest by a terrible slaughter of the Incas, his 
relatives. 

These events had just occurred when the Spaniards landed 
in Tumbez, in 1532, and they had left behind traces not only 
in the land, but also in the tempers of the people. The 
Spaniards found Tumbez, which had been represented to 
them as so delightful, wasted, it was said, by the inhabitants 
of Puna. The colonists that had been left behind in the 
earlier expedition had vanished, and no certain information 
concerning their fate could be obtained. Pizarro therefore 
gave up his plan of making Tumbez the headquarters of the 
expedition, and led his army along the coast in a southerly 
direction, until he had found a suitable place. Here in a 
fruitful valley not far from the sea, into which a navigable ' 
river flowed, he founded the first Spanish colony, and gave it 
the name of San Miguel. He spent the whole summer of the 
year 1532 in fortifying the town, in forming a community out of 
those soldiers who were disposed to settle, and in appointing 
the authorities, while the ships returned to Panama with the 



Francisco Pizarro. 329 

spoil already collected. From the information that he col- 
lected here with regard to the condition of the country, he 
found that the deposed Guascar was languishing as a prisoner 
in the strong fortress Xaura, and that the victorious Atahualpa, 
with his army, was distant from San Miguel only some twelve 
days' journey in the town of Cassamarca, whither he had gone 
for the warm baths. There Pizarro determined to seek him 
out, and on the 21st of September, 1532, left San Miguel with 
105 foot-soldiers and sixty- three horse. 

Their way soon led the little band out of the glorious scenery 
of the coast into the wild region of the mountains whose sum- 
mits appeared to touch the heavens. They were well received 
wherever they stopped, and an ambassador from the Inca met 
them, who brought presents to their general, and an invitation 
couched in the most friendly terms. Suspicious, however, of 
these assurances, Pizarro continued his march ready prepared 
for battle, the cavalry under his brother Hernando and the 
gallant de Soto going forward to explore the road and the 
heights. But they met with no hostile demonstration, and 
even the most difficult passes, which might have been made 
invincible by a small garrison, were found open and unguarded. 
Was the Inca in earnest in his assurances, or was he trying to 
entice the strangers into a trap ? The Spaniards inclined to 
the latter supposition, which gave them the right to be stern 
and dictatorial. They still continued to ascend, and at last, by 
a difficult mule path, crossed the inhospitable ridge which was 
the boundary of Cassamarca. Then began to reappear beautiful 
watered meadows and cornfields, and at last was seen the 
town itself in a lovely green valley, whence arose a pillar of 
steam, betraying the far-famed hot springs. A mass of white 
tents rising in front of the town showed Pizarro that Ata- 
hualpa was protected by a considerable army. 

But without sign of fear he led his little army down into the 
town, which he found deserted by its inhabitants. He chose 



330 A Century of Discovery, 

for his quarters a three-cornered place at the end of the town, 
which was surrounded by spacious halls. Although the even- 
ing was far advanced, he sent a troop of cavalry to the neigh- 
bouring baths to greet the Inca and see how things stood. 
They found Atahualpa in an open court of the palace, sur- 
rounded by his dignitaries, but neither by the arrogant message 
of their general, nor by surprising feats of horsemanship, could 
they produce the least impression on the Prince, who remained 
quite impassive, and betrayed nothing of the astonishment 
which the unexpected appearances must have excited in 
him. But he listened courteously to their invitation to 
visit them in the town, and promised to come the next 
day. 

What did Atahualpa purpose .'' Were his intentions as harm- 
less as he asserted } It was hardly to be supposed that a 
prince who had given such proofs of courage and sagacity 
could be blind to the great danger that threatened his town. 
Or did he purpose to destroy these dangerous strangers, and 
had with this end in view enticed them into the lion's den ? 
But then surely he would not have been rash enough to trust 
his own person to them. His conduct remains a riddle to this 
day, in spite of the assertion of Pizarro that he meant to kill 
most of the Spaniards, keeping the bravest in his service, and 
in spite of the fact that in Peru, as in Mexico, there was an 
old tradition of some divine beings who were one day to return, 
and that this old story no doubt came to the help of the daring" 
invaders. 

The report of the messengers of the dignified bearing of 
Atahualpa and the warlike masses by which he was sur- 
rounded put the courage of the Spaniards to a hard trial, but 
Pizarro assured them that all was going just as he wished, and 
that the next day would make them lords of Peru. He 
determined by a coup de main to make himself master of the 
person of the Prince, and make him play the same part that 



Francisco Pizarro. 331 

Montezuma had played in the hands of Cortes, whom Pizarro 
followed as his model most faithfully. 

On the next day, November i6th, 1532, he communicated 
his plans to his troops. He then caused the guns to be placed 
in a neighbouring fortress, and ordered his men to keep them- 
selves concealed in the great halls and, at a given signal, to burst 
out and begin the slaughter. When all the preparations for 
the treacherous assault were complete, the priests who accom- 
panied the Spanish army joerformed a solemn Mass, and called 
upon God to take under His almighty protection the warriors 
who were to fight for His holy cause, and for the extension of 
His kingdom. With pious ardour the soldiers joined in the 
prayers and hymns, " One might have supposed them," says 
Prescott, " a company of martyrs about to lay down their lives 
in defence of their faith, instead of a licentious band of ad- 
venturers meditating one of the most atrocious acts of perfidy 
on the record of history. But the Spaniards were not hypo- 
crites : in their mistaken piety they were perfectly convinced 
that their designs would be pleasing to God, and, unfor- 
tunately, there is no want in history of examples to prove 
that the warmest religious enthusiasm may exist side by side 
with the most utter want of principle and the coarsest 
selfishness." 

Meanwhile the unsuspecting victim was approaching. Before 
the town Atahualpa stopped and sent the desired message, 
that he should enter the town unarmed and with but few 
soldiers, and that he intended to pass the night there. It was 
near sunset when the head of the procession passed to their 
destruction through the gate of the city. First came a hundred 
servants to clear away every obstacle; then followed other 
companies of various ranks and variously clothed, but all with 
great magnificence. A particularly fine appearance was madeby 
the body-guard and immediate servarlts of the Prince, dressed 
in sky-blue ; and the chief members of the aristocracy ex- 



332 A Centuiy of Discovery. 

cited much attention by their rich attire, and by the large 
golden balls which they wore in their ears. They all united 
in solemn songs, "which sounded in our ears," says one of 
the pious discoverers, "like songs of hell." 

Last appeared the Inca borne on a litter, seated on a stool 
of solid gold, of inestimable value. The litter was adorned 
with bright-coloured feathers of tropical birds, and glittered 
with gold and silver plates. The dress of the Prince much 
surpassed in splendour that of his attendants. He wore a 
necklace of emeralds of unusual size and beauty. His short 
hair was ornamented, and round his brow was wound the royal 
turban, the Borla, the fringe of which hung down to his eyes. 
The Inca looked round him with dignity, and was astonished 
to see the place empty where he expected to meet the 
Spaniards. 

Then Father Vincent de Valverde stepped forward to meet 
him. He was a gloomy Dominican, Pizarro's chaplain. He 
held in one hand a Bible, in the other a crucifix, and said he 
came at the General's command to call upon the King to 
accept Christianity. With the help of his interpreter, the 
cunning Felipillo, he explained the chief doctrines of the 
Christian Church, telling him that the vicars of Christ, the 
Popes of Rome, were lords of all lands, and therefore of 
Peru, and that they had charged the Spanish King to convert 
that country to Christianity. The- summary, in itself rather 
indistinct, was not rendered more clear by passing through an 
interpreter. Only one thing did Atahualpa understand, the 
statement that in his land another than he possessed the 
supreme authority. He cried indignantly, " I am greater than 
any other Prince upon earth ! Your Emperor may be a great 
Prince, I do not doubt it, since I see that he has sent his ser- 
vants across the sea to me, and I am ready to consider him as 
a brother. As for what you said about the Pope, he must be 
mad if he thinks he can give away lands that do not belong 



Francisco Pizarro. 333 

to him." Then he asked Valverde on what he rested such 
foohsh statements. The priest pointed to the Bible. Atahualpa 
took it, and being perfectly unacquainted with the crooked 
signs which covered the leaves, let the book drop carelessly 
on the ground. The monk hastily picked up the sacred book, 
ran to Pizarro and told him of the insult to the word of God. 
" Strike at once," he cried, " I will absolve you." 

Pizarro lifted a white handkerchief and waved it, a cannon 
shot resounded, and at this given sign the Spaniards rushed 
from all sides upon their helpless victims. A cry of distress 
was raised, broken by the battle-cry of the assailants and the 
thunder of the artillery. The whole place was soon a scene 
of utter confusion, the alarmed Peruvians seeking in vain to 
escape from the swords of their relentless enemies. In desper- 
ation they succeeded in forcing an opening in the stone Avail, 
by which some of them escaped. Pizarro's object from the 
beginning was to obtain possession of Atahualpa's person. 
But the faithful guards, who surrounded the Prince, threw 
themselves between him and the Spaniards, and, unarmed as 
they were, tried to make a defence for him of their own 
bodies. It was not until they were cut down to the last man 
that the assailants succeeded in seizing the King and carrying 
him safely into the neighbouring building. 

Then the struggle ceased, but an enormous number of the 
noblest of the Peruvians — the accounts vary between 2000 
and 10,000 — lay dead on the scene of the conflict, while of 
the Spaniards not one was wounded. On the bodies of the 
fallen, who were buried the next day, a rich spoil was found, 
which was much increased by the plunder of the Inca's palace. 
Well satisfied, and with the consciousness of having performed 
a work well-pleasing to God, they lay down to sleep. 

The unhappy Prince, bewildered by the treachery of the 
assault, and overwhelmed by the fearful scenes which he had 
witnessed, was entertained as a guest the same evening at the 



334 -^ Century of Discovery. 

table of Pizarro, who behaved to him with sol-dierly courtesy 
and assured him of good treatment. A suite of rooms were 
appointed him, in which he settled himself with his wives and 
retinue. Intercourse with his subjects was allowed him, only 
of course under strict supervision. He reconciled himself to 
his altered situation with the sang froid characteristic of his 
people, and while towards his subjects he displayed, even as a 
prisoner, all the majesty of royalty, to his jailors he was 
friendly and sociable. From them he learned to play at dice 
and chess, and often gratified them with costly presents. 

Pizarro chose Cassamarca for his headquarters. He em- 
ployed himself first in erecting a Christian church, and then 
in making all the necessary arrangements for the maintenance 
of the troops. Through the captive Prince he summoned 
back the fugitive inhabitants, dismissed the Indian army and 
obtained possession of their leaders. At the same time he 
sent out companies to traverse the country, put down all 
opposition and plunder the temples and palaces. They soon 
collected important treasure, and Atahualpa had good reason 
to imagine that the Spaniards were impelled less by religious 
zeal and love of honour than by covetousness. He wished 
to please them that he might procure his liberty. So one day 
he offered to Pizarro, as ransom, sufficient gold to fill the room 
in which they were to the height that a man could reach with 
his arm. This offer surpassed so much the most brilliant ex- 
pectations of the avaricious Spaniards that they doubted the 
possibility of its fulfilment. However, Pizarro consented, 
and drawing a red line along the wall, he made a notary draw 
up the conditions of the agreement. The room was about 
seventeen feet wide, twenty-two feet long, and the line on the 
wall was at a height of nine feet from the ground. This space 
was to be filled with gold; but it was agreed that the gold should 
not be melted into bars but should be left in the form in which 
it was found. A smaller neighbouring room Atahualpa 



Francisco Pizmn'o. 335 

■offered to fill twice with gold, and for the fulfilment of the 
agreement a space of two months was allowed. His mes- 
sengers went to all parts of the land and demanded from the 
priests and guardians of the palaces the golden furniture that 
they might bring it to Cassamarca. The news reached even 
the imprisoned Guascar, and in the hope of purchasing his 
freedom in the same way he offered the Spanish general still 
greater treasures than his brother, who, not being a native of 
Cusco, did not know the place where the treasures were to be 
found. But Atahualpa heard of this message, and, from a 
well-grounded fear that Pizarro would constitute himself arbi- 
trator between the two rivals, gave orders that his unfortu- 
nate brother should be murdered. So Guascar died at the 
command of his brother, who, himself a prisoner, denied any 
complicity in the murder without being able to convince his 
jailor. 

The wide extent of the kingdom delayed the execution of 
the promise that Atahualpa had given, but day after day 
great loads of royal treasures arrived and were put into safe 
custody. The impatience of the soldiers to obtain their share 
of the enormous booty was so great that at last Pizarro began 
the division. On a careful reckoning it was estimated that 
the gold collected was worth the enormous sum of 1,326,529 
dollars, besides a mass of silver of the value of 5 1,610 marks. It 
was the greatest spoil that, since the memory of man, had fallen 
into the hands of a victorious army. Pizarro first separated 
the royal fifth, taking care that the most valuable and skilful 
work should be included in it that the Castilian Court might 
be made acquainted with the skill and taste of its new 
subjects. The royal portion was conveyed by Hernando 
Pizarro to Spain, and he was charged at the same time to seek 
for fresh honours for the conquerors and reinforcements. On 
the division Pizarro^s share amounted to 57,222 dollars of gold 
and 2350 marks of silver, besides the Inca's stool of solid 



33^ ^ Cenhny of Discovery. 

gold. The officers' prize was very great, and even of the 
common soldiers the horseman each received 8880 dollars of 
gold and 360 marks of silver, and the foot-soldiers 4440 dollars 
of gold and 180 marks of silver. Smaller sums were given to 
the garrison of San Miguel and to Almagro's troops, who had 
arrived meanwhile in Cassamarca with a force of 200 soldiers, 
of whom 50 were horsemen. The priest Luque, the third 
partner, had died shortly before, but Espinosa, who had 
advanced the money, appears to have been richly repaid. 

The newly-arrived forces at last made it possible for Pizarro 
to think of marching to Cusco, but he felt that the captive 
Prince would be in his way. Since the division of the spoil 
he had loudly demanded his freedom, although the treasures 
had not entirely fulfilled his promise. Pizarro hesitated, but 
at last determined to prolong Atahualpa's captivity and to 
look for an opportunity of ridding himself of his troublesome 
prisoner. It came only too soon. Reports were spread of 
threatened risings among the natives aroused by the dethroned 
Inca against the strangers, and the soldiers, who saw before 
them all the hardships of camp-life, demanded the death of 
the conspirator. Pizarro was decided. He sent away from 
the camp the chivalrous Hernando de Soto, the warmest 
defender of the prisoner, and formed a court of justice to try 
the unhappy Prince. With heartless hypocrisy great pains 
were taken to give to the arbitrary act an appearance of justice. 
Pizarro and Almagro sat as judges, an advocate was given to 
the accused, and a public official prosecuted. 

Twelve charges were brought against him, the most import- 
ant being that he had usurped the Crown and murdered his 
brother, that after the conquest of the country by the Spaniards 
he had wasted the revenues of the empire to the injury of 
the Castilian crown, that he was guilty of idolatry and 
adultery, and that he had tried to excite a rebellion against the 
Spaniards. The unfortunate man was unanimously declared 



Francisco Pizarro. 337 

guilty, and the only question that was raised was the advisa- 
bility of a capital sentence. This, however, was soon decided 
upon, and the pious Valverde gave the matter his blessing. 
When the sentence was communicated to the Inca he was 
much distressed, although he had long foreboded it. For a 
moment trouble unmanned him, and he cried with tears in 
his eyes, "What have I done to deserve so miserable a fate ? 
And you condemn me to it," he said, turning to Pizarro, " you 
who have been treated by my people with kindness and hos- 
pitality, with whom I have shared my treasures, and who 
have received nothing but kindness from my hands .''" He 
begged piteously for his life, but the heartless man was not to 
be moved. Then Atahualpa recovered his composure, and 
calmly allowed himself to be led in chains to the place of 
execution. He had constantly resisted all attempts of Val- 
verde to convert him, but the fear of being burnt alive over- 
came him, and the promise being given him of sparing him 
this fearful form of death if he was baptised, he professed 
himself a Christian. He had hardly entered the Christian 
Church under the name of Juan de Atahualpa, when the 
executioner put an end to his troubles by strangling him. So 
died, August 29th, 1533, the last Inca who reigned inde- 
pendently over the great kingdom. He was a man of great 
and brilliant qualities, both of the heart and understanding, 
though there were not wanting dark shadows on his character. 
But these fall into insignificance when compared with the black 
deceit and cunning cruelty to which he fell a victim. His 
execution brought upon Pizarro much weil-deserved reproach, 
and he sought in vain to throw the blame of the detestable 
crime upon the officers who had urged him to it. 

The death of the Inca, the sun round which the whole state 
system of Peru revolved, necessarily brought confusion into 
the entire kingdom, and rebellion broke out in the distant 
provinces, while at the same time an Indian army assembled 

22 



338 A Century of Discovery. 

before Cusco to prevent the Spaniards from entering the holy 
city. Pizarro tried to smooth over this difficulty by setting 
upon the vacant throne first a brother of Atahualpa's, and 
after his speedy death a brother of Guascar's, the youthful 
and heroic Manco Capac, and causing the Peruvians solemnly 
to pay him homage. The march to Cusco was delayed by 
repeated skirmishes, and many a difficult pass could only 
be won by hard fighting. But at last all difficulties were 
overcome, and the Spaniards saw lying at their feet Cusco, the 
holy city of the Incas. On November 15th, 1533, they entered 
it, and were not less astonished at finding such a healthy 
climate at the height of 10,000 feet above the sea than at the 
extent of the population, which is reckoned then to have 
numbered 400,000, and also at the regular arrangement of the 
streets and numerous fine buildings. The town was divided 
into four quarters by four streets which led to the four pro- 
vinces of the great empire. In the spacious squares rose 
gigantic edifices, the castles of the Incas^ the temple of the 
sun, etc., while at the east end upon a hill stood a fortress, built 
of enormous stones, commanding the whole town. In all these 
buildings was to be found excellent masonry, on many also 
tasteful sculpture. But what delighted the Spaniards more 
than anything was the prospect of rich spoil, in which they 
were not disappointed. 

Although the chief wealth had previously been sur- 
rendered for Atahualpa's ransom, and Pizarro had strictly 
forbidden the plundering of private houses, yet a treasure was 
collected and divided among the adventurers which was 
estimated at 580,200 ducats in gold, and 215,000 marks of 
silver. The sudden flood of riches naturally produced a most 
pernicious effect upon those rude minds ; very few ultimately 
returned rich to their native land, most squandered their 
wealth in the most foolish manner. Many fell victims to the 
love for gambling which seems born in Spaniards, losing all 



Francisco Pizarro. 339 

their property in one day. Then all the worst passions of the 
human heart were aroused, and the unhappy Peruvians saw 
their property, their honour, their freedom, their life treated 
as toys by wild inhuman masters. 

In Cusco, where many Spaniards settled, the civil govern- 
ment was soon arranged, and attempts were made to convert 
the natives. Pizarro founded settlements in different parts of 
the country, and by the lavish manner in which he bestowed 
repartimientos attracted many Spaniards into the land. From 
among these infant towns he selected Los Reyes (the city of 
the three kings), which he founded on January 6, 153S, for the 
capital of the kingdom, and took great pains with the building 
of it. It prospered and increased rapidly, and its name was 
soon changed to that of Lima, from the river Rimac, on the 
banks of which it was situated. In a short time rose on the 
coast Truxillo and Santa to the north, and Nasca and Are- 
quipa to the south. The fruitfulness of the soil, and the 
natural resources of the country, especially the mines, pro- 
mised the youthful settlement rapid prosperity, but a suc- 
cession of terrible conflicts soon destroyed these hopes. 

First there was a fearful rising of the natives which called 
for all the efforts of the conquerors. The young Inca Manco 
Capac succeeded in escaping from the captivity in which his 
white masters kept him, and called his people to arms. He 
appeared in 1536 with a huge army before Cusco, which was 
garrisoned by 200 Spaniards under Hernando and Juan, 
brothers of the Governor. The attack was made with un- 
equalled fury, and repeated day after day. To this was 
added a great fire by which a large part of the town was laid 
in ashes, and famine also made its appearance among the 
besieged. But they endured with heroic courage all the 
sufferings of a five months' siege, constantly making san- 
guinary sorties until at last the army of the besiegers was 
dispersed. Juan Pizarro lost his life in the defence of the 

22 — 2 



340 A Century of Discovery. 

town. After having escaped this extreme danger it was not 
hard for the Spaniards to drive the rebel Peruvians step by- 
step out of the cultivated portion of the country into the im- 
passable mountains. There, however, Manco Capac held out for 
many years, frequently descending to destroy with fire and 
sword the land over which his father had reigned so prosper- 
ously, and which was now bleeding under the iron heel of the 
foreigner. It was not until 1544 that he met his death at the 
hand of an assassin. 

Still more disastrous for the country was the renewal of the 
old dispute between Pizarro and Almagro. The arrival of 
Hernando Pizarro at the Spanish court had caused universal 
astonishment and surprise throughout Spain. His story and 
the treasures that he brought surpassed so much all that had 
ever been seen before that every one was inclined to consider 
it a fairy tale, and nothing but the evidence of their senses 
could persuade them of the truth of these wonders. Thousands 
offered themselves for the gold land, and Fernando set out 
on his return with a great fleet crowded with new settlers. 
He was also the bearer of fresh favours from the Emperor to 
the two leaders. Pizarro's province, which began at the river 
San Juan, 4 degrees north latitude, and extended 70 Spanish 
miles to the south, received an addition of 270 more. All the 
country south of that was given to Almagro as an inde- 
pendent government. Very soon arose difficulties about the 
boundaries of the two provinces. Cusco, even Lima itself, 
became disputed territory. Almagro at first undertook an 
exploring and conquering expedition to the south. He 
crossed the Cordilleras in one of the wildest parts, where after- 
wards the inexhaustible silver mines of Potosi were disco- 
vered, and traversed the land of Chili in spite of frequent 
conflicts with the natives. But he was forced to return with- 
out founding a settlement or finishing the conquest of the 
country. Pie climbed up through the inhospitable desert of 



Francisco Pizarro. 341 

Atacama to the tableland of Titicaca, where he arrived just 
in time to assist in overthrowing Manco Capac, who was besieg- 
ing Cusco. He then laid claim himself to the possession of 
the capital, and succeeded in making himself master of it 
by surprise, and capturing Hernando and Gonzalo, the two 
brothers of his rival. A division of the army which was sent 
against him he completely defeated at the river Abancay. 
Pizarro not being then in a position to make head against 
him tried to avert the threatened danger by negotiations, and 
brought Almagro to consent to a temporary agreement, 
according to which he released the brothers Pizarro and 
evacuated Cusco. Meanwhile the Governor hastily made pre- 
parations, procured reinforcements from Central America, and 
soon found himself at the head of a large army, which he sent, 
under the command of his brother Hernando, against his old 
companion-in-arms, remaining himself in Lima. 

Terrified out of his false security, Almagro marched to 
Cusco, and there, oppressed by age and sickness, surrendered 
his command to his faithful officer Orgonez. On April 26th, 
1538, ensued the decisive battle at Salinas, before the gates 
of Cusco. After a bloody conflict Pizarro remained the victor. 
Orgonez fell, his army dispersed, and Almagro was taken 
prisoner. Fernando Pizarro, after having given Cusco up 
to plunder, called a court-martial to decide the fate of the 
rebel. The pitiable farce to which Atahualpa had fallen 
victim was repeated. Condemned to death, Diego de Almagro 
was strangled in prison, his body beheaded in the public 
square, and then buried with great ceremony, Pizarro's 
brother following the bier as chief mourner. At the time of 
his miserable death Almagro was an old man of seventy. He 
was of equally low origin with Pizarro, and had passed through 
the same school of danger and adventure ; but he differed 
from him in his cheerful disposition and frank nature, and 
was totally wanting in the cautious circumspect character 



342 A Centtiry of Discovery. 

which distinguished Pizarro. Hernando Pizarro would scarcely 
have dared to commit such an act without being certain of 
his brother's consent, and both were to receive the due 
punishment of their crime. Hernando went to Spain in I539> 
where the friends of the murdered man had accused him, 
trusting that the treasures he brought with him would be 
sufficient proofs of his innocence. But he was coldly received, 
and without a trial was sent to the fortress of Medina del 
Campo, where he languished a prisoner for twenty years. He 
did not obtain his freedom until 1560, when, unbroken by his 
long confinement, he had attained a great age. 

Long before that had the Governor Francisco Pizarro met 
his end. He had treated the numerous adherents of Almagro 
with careless contempt, neither attempting to win them by 
kindness nor to keep them down by severity. These discon- 
tented men formed a dangerous party in the new state. For 
all the sufferings and dangers they had endured, especially the 
march to Chili, they had been rewarded only by poverty and 
neglect. They found a head in the natural son of their late 
leader, young Diego de Almagro, whom his father had named 
his heir, but whom Pizarro had robbed of his inheritance. 
Under the guidance of a discontented officer named Juan de 
Rada, Diego made preparations for an outbreak. On Sun- 
day, June 26th, 1 541, the conspirators, only twenty in number, 
left Almagro 's house and hastened to the palace of the Gover- 
nor, shouting, " Long live the King ! Death to the tyrant !" 
The inhabitants of Lima, quiet in their houses during the 
midday heat, paid no attention to the uproar, and so the 
murderers passed unhindered through the open doors of the 
palace, cutting down all who came in their way. Pizarro had 
been warned some days before, but considered the report a 
mere invention. He had just been dining in company with his 
half-brother, Martin de Alcantara, the chief judge, and the new 
Bishop of Quito, and other friends, when the noise warned him 




DEATH OF PIZARRO. 



Francisco Pizarro. 



o^^ 



of the greatness of the danger. He preserved his presence of 
mind perfectly, and commanding an officer to shut the door 
which led into the court, he hastened to put on his armour. 
But the officer in confusion ran straight into the arms of the 
conspirators and was cut down. So before the Governor and 
his friends were armed the conspirators were upon them. 
Nevertheless they fought desperately, and several of the 
assailants were stretched mortally wounded on the ground. 
Alcantara and the other friends of the Governor fell, and he 
himself was attacked, but brought several to the ground by 
quick powerful blows, till at last he received a severe wound 
in the neck and fell. "Jesus,"" cried the wounded man, and 
making with his finger a cross on the bloody ground, he 
stooped to kiss it, when another blow ended his life. 

So closed this strange career, so rich in adventure, in bril- 
liant feats and in horrible crimes, begun in poverty and dirt 
and reaching the highest honours and riches. No one can 
•deny his great qualities, his unwavering courage, his quick 
discernment, his rapid action, his perfect self-confidence ; and 
the stains on his character which disgust us are to be found on 
all those unprincipled adventurers, disfiguring also a Balboa and 
a Cortes. But in Pizarro were wanting the redeeming features 
which almost reconcile us to the others and make us judge 
them rather leniently and admire their heroism. Their nobility 
of mind and chivalrous disposition were ill replaced by the 
cold calculation and passionless character of Pizarro, and 
his image remains gloomy and hateful. Apparently he was 
about seventy years of age at the time of his death. His 
funeral was conducted the same evening in the greatest haste 
and secrecy. Some servants carried the body wrapped in a 
cloth to the church, where it was buried in one corner with- 
out chant or prayer. " There was none," says the historian 
Gomara, " to say ' God forgive him.' " 

Immediately after Pizarro's death, the young Almagro was 



344 -^ Century of Discovery. 

proclaimed Governor, and acknowledged by all in authority. 
But even after this revolution the troubles of the young state 
were not over. Shortly after, the judge Vaca de Castro entered 
Peru, having been sent out by the Spanish Government some 
months before to investigate the troubles of the country and 
call Pizarro to account for his deeds of violence. Immediately 
after his arrival he made use of his authority and summoned 
Almagro to submit to him, while at the same time, by his wise, 
firm, and moderate conduct, he gained the hearts of the chief 
part of the Spanish settlers. But Almagro, fearing for his life, 
withdrew to Cusco and prepared for war. A battle was fought 
in the plains of Chupas on September i6, 1542, Almagro was 
defeated after a gallant struggle, taken prisoner, and executed in 
Cusco with forty of his adherents. Under the judicious manage- 
ment of Vaca de Castro the land enjoyed a short period of rest, 
but was again disturbed by the intelligence that a new code of 
laws had been prepared in Spain for Peru, which would in- 
fringe the rights of the conquerors, by declaring the Peruvians 
free and protecting them against their masters. To carry out 
these laws Blasco Nunez Vela was chosen, and named Viceroy 
of Peru. He arrived in the summer of 1544, and entered 
Lima with great pomp. But the object for which he was sent 
out made him hated by all the Spaniards, and his violent con- 
duct augmented the embittered feeling until at last it broke 
out in open insurrection. It was headed by Gonzalo Pizarro, 
the only one left of the four brothers, who, as Governor of 
Quito, had spent a long time on a difficult expedition down 
the Amazon. During Vaca de Castro's rule he had been en- 
gaged in working his rich mines. He was a brilliant soldier, 
but possessed no force of character. The Spaniards flocked 
round him, and he was soon able to lead an army against Lima, 
where the Governor shut himself up. Utter confusion ensued. 
At last in a battle fought before the gates of Quito on January 
1 8th, 1546, Blasco Nunez was defeated and fell. 



Francisco Pizarro. 345 

The fortunate victor was proclaimed Governor, and saluted 
with the title of " Deliverer and Protector of the people." His 
authority seemed firmly established throughout the land, his 
fleet ruled the sea, and even Darien was dependent on him. 
In overweening security he adopted a princely style of magni- 
ficence, and probably intended to declare himself independent 
King of Peru. But the end of his glory soon came. 

The opposition to Governor Nunez had excited great dis- 
pleasure in Spain, and in the new governor, Pedro de la Gasca,. 
the right man was found for a most difficult post. He had 
given indubitable proofs of ardent loyalty and great qualities, 
while he was a man of gentle manners and at the same time 
of resolute character. By the decision of Charles V. himself^ 
he was invested with unlimited powers and almost royal pri- 
vileges, and embarked for America on May 26th, 1546. 

It was not until his arrival that he heard of the complete 
triumph of Pizarro and the death of the Viceroy, by which he 
was placed in a most difficult position. But by his moderation 
and perseverance he succeeded ultimately in awakening regret 
for their rebellion in the minds of most of Pizarro's companions 
and persuading them to come over to his side. After a war 
of several months Pizarro's army was disbanded just before 
the battle which was to decide the matter. He himself was 
captured, and in April, 1548, with several of his associates 
brought to execution. 

Gasca was equally successful in reducing the land to order, 
and when in 1550 he embarked for Spain, he left Peru in per- 
fect repose, the Spaniards in the enjoyment of their lands 
and the Indians reconciled to their lot. The monarch, for 
whom by his wise and energetic conduct he had saved the 
brightest jewel of his foreign possessions, rewarded him with 
the bishopric of Siguenza, which he held until his peaceful 
death in 1567. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE LAST DISCOVERIES OF THE SPANIARDS. 

It has been already remarked that the discoveries of the 
Spaniards are closely connected with the finding of the pre- 
cious metals. In the search for them they shrank from no 
difficulties and no hardships. Countries where gold and silver 
were to be found were soon covered with settlements, and gold- 
seekers streamed in unceasingly from the mother country. 
On the other hand, those countries that were poor in the pre- 
cious metals soon lost all interest, and it was only under ex- 
ceptionally favourable circumstances that, after a long period, 
immigrants began to stream into them. 

Such natural advantages, however, existed for the Antilles 
and the Isthmus of Darien. Those islands were the natural 
and most convenient station for Spanish ships going farther to 
the west ; as the oldest possessions, they had attained a higher 
degree of order, and the towns planted on them had grown 
up so quickly that the inhabitants felt settled and at home, 
while their harbours showed signs of active prosperity. The 
isthmus having special importance as the highway for all the 
trade of Peru, the town of Panama developed rapidly. 

Of all the countries along the coast of the eastern sea, 
Mexico, so rich in silver, was most attractive, and the overflow 
of its settlers went to found new colonies in the neighbour- 
ing lands to the north, where new silver mines were constantly 
being found. Chihuahua was taken possession of by Francisco 
de Ibarra in 1564, and a few years later the outposts of the 



The Last Discoveries of the Spaniards. 347 

Spanish settlers extended to the wild regions of New Mexico, 
and were the scene of unceasing conflicts with the wild Indians. 

The north coast of the Mexican Gulf had been explored in 
a series of expeditions, and claimed as a Spanish possession ; 
but after, by searching the coast narrowly, it had been proved 
that the passage to the west was not to be found there, no 
further interest was taken in the swampy lands which gave no 
promise of precious metals. Florida was the only exception, 
being the object of many voyages of discovery, in consequence 
of dazzling accounts of riches reported to be found in a land 
sparingly endowed by Nature. 

The old romantic knight, Juan Ponce de Leon, the dis- 
coverer of the land, had been attracted by a spring which was 
to restore youth. The unfortunate experience of Ponce did 
not prevent numbers of enterprising men from following in 
his steps. Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, in 1526, tried to estab- 
lish a settlement on the banks of the river Sautee, in the part 
now called South Carolina ; but in conflict with the natives, 
who were irritated by treacherous attacks, he lost the greater 
part of his men, and led the rest back to Hispaniola. Then 
Pamphilo de Narvaez, the unlucky opponent of the great 
Cortes, appeared on the scene. Supported by influential 
friends, he received permission to conquer Florida, and 
equipped a force of 400 men, among whom were forty-five 
horsemen. With this strong force he embarked on board a nu- 
merous fleet, and appeared on April 12th, 1528, off the west 
coast of Florida. Deaf to all advice, he immiediately landed 
his troops, and marched with them into the interior of the 
country, commanding his fleet to go in search of a desirable 
harbour. In spite of indescribable difficulties from the swampy 
land, and continued contests with the warlike natives, the 
march was conducted to the heart of the peninsula ; but none 
of the desired treasures were found, and the army was obliged 
to return to the coast. There they wandered about, looking 



34S A Century of Discovery. 

in vain for the fleet, which had been scattered by a storm. 
At last they determined to build boats, and in them proceed 
along the coast. These frail barks, however, were all swal- 
lowed up by the waves, Narvaez himself losing his life. Of 
all these brave men, only two were ever again seen by their 
countrymen — the paymaster, Alvaro Nunez, who, after being 
kept in hard slavery for many years by the rude tribes, ap- 
peared in the autumn of 1536 on the north border of Mexico, 
which he had succeeded in reaching after a journey on foot of 
incredible difficulty; and a sailor, Juan Ortez, who was rescued 
by the next expedition, 

Unterrified by the miserable result of all the earlier ex- 
peditions, Hernando de Soto, the chivalrous companion of 
Pizarro, accepted the government of Florida, and employed 
the great treasures which he had won in Peru in equipping a 
gallant army of 1000 men, with which he proceeded to his 
government on May 12th, 1539. He founded a settlement 
on the Bay of San Spirito, which was afterwards removed to 
the Apalachie Gulf, and penetrated with his army [into the 
interior, where he had to struggle with the same difficulties of 
the swampy soil and savage inhabitants as his predecessor 
had done. More fortunate than he had been, Soto overcame 
all difficulties, passed the winter at a favourable part of the 
peninsula, and then, by deceitful accounts of a land rich in 
gold, allowed himself to be persuaded into undertaking a 
great expedition in a north-westerly direction to the river 
Mississippi. Crossing it the indefatigable general proceeded 
as far as the Arkansas, but then was obliged to return and 
establish himself at the junction of the two streams. There 
he was attacked on May 25th, 1542, by a lingering fever, to 
which his constitution, weakened by excessive exertion, at 
last succumbed. His army, thus left without a general, at- 
tempted first to reach Mexico, but in the prairies of Texas 
was forced to give up the plan and return to the Mississippi. 



l^he Last Discoveries of the Spaniards. 349 

On seven frail ships which they built there, the survivors, 350 
in number, embarked on the 2nd of July, 1543, and, after a 
tedious voyage along the coast, reached the Atlantic harbours 
of Mexico in a miserable condition. 

The unfortunate result of this brilliant expedition taught 
the Spaniards a lesson, and from that time they forsook the 
dangerous coast. It was only very gradually that there arose 
round the best harbours of Florida little settlements, which in 
time became towns. St. Augustine, lying on the east coast, 
30° north latitude, is the oldest of these towns. 

More successful were the enterprises which had for their 
•object the rich mountain lands between Darien and Mexico. 
As early as 15 15 and 15 16 armies under Gonsalo de Badajoz 
and that Gaspar de Espinosa who afterwards defrayed the ex- 
penses of the conquest of Peru, swept over the country now 
called Costa Rica, and carried away rich spoil. Later Gil 
Gongalez Davila arrived, having started, in 1522, with four 
ships to explore the coast of Panama. He visited the Gulf of 
Nicoya, which Espinosa had already found, and during a 
march into the interior discovered the great fresh water lake, 
which, from a neighbouring chief, was called Nicaragua. Here 
they met with a highly-cultivated people, closely resembling 
the Aztecs in their manners. The squadron proceeded at 
once to the north, and discovered the Gulf of Papagayo 
and that beautiful inlet of the South Sea, which, in honour 
of the President, received the name of Fonseca Bay (13° north 
latitude). The newly-annexed lands soon received a large 
number of emigrants from Panama. 

Penetrating farther to the north, the Spanish discoverers 
met some of their countrymen, who had entered the country 
from the opposite direction. They were commanded by 
Pedro de Alvarado, the bold companion of Cortes, whom the 
latter had commissioned to conquer the country of Guate- 
mala. He performed his task with horrible cruelty in the 



350 A Cenhtry of Discovery. 

year 1524. The people of this land were highly civilised, re- 
lated to theToltecs in Mexico and the Mayas in Yucatan, but 
incapable of resisting the arms which had overthrown the 
mighty kingdom of the Aztecs. Alvarado remained until his 
death, in 1 541, Governor of Guatemala, which attained such 
importance that in 1540 it was separated from Mexico, to 
which it had hitherto belonged, and was made independent 
under its own Captain-general. At the same time the rest of 
the territories in Central America were added to it, and also 
Honduras, which Olid had conquered in 1523. The Captain- 
general resided in Old Guatemala, a town which soon became, 
next to Mexico, the most splendid of the whole of Spanish 
America. 

The north coast of South America was not occupied by 
Spanish colonists until later, although it had been made 
known by Columbus and Ojeda. This was probably caused 
by fear of the Caribs, who had inflicted fearful damage on the 
first Spaniards who entered their country. The country of 
Uraba on the Gulf of Darien, too Avell known by the miser- 
able expeditions of Ojeda, was colonised by Spaniards from 
the south. Sebastian de Belalcazar, an officer of Pizarro's, 
had conquered Quito in 1534, and going on northward into 
the valley of Popayan, in which the river Caiica had its source, 
took possession of a province for himself, holding it under the 
government of Lima. Penetrating still farther northward, 
Juan de Quesada occupied the highlands of the Cordilleras 
on both banks of the Magdalena, founding there, in 1538, the 
new capital of Santa-Fe de Bogota, at a great height above 
the sea, and opening a way along the strean to the Caribbean 
Sea. 

About the same time the neighbouring coasts from the 
Gulf of Maracaybo to the mouth of the Orinoco were oc- 
cupied. All these territories were given by Charles V., in 
1525, to his privy councillor, the merchant, Bartholomaus 



The Last Discoveries of the Spania7'ds. 351 

Welser, who, being born (1484) a scion of a famous commer- 
cial house in Augsburg, by successful speculation became one 
of the richest men in Europe, and counted the Emperor him- 
self among his debtors. As payment for a debt of 11,000,000 
gulden, a long strip of the coast was given him for twenty- 
eight years. It was named Venezuela (Little Venice), from 
the villages built on piles in the sea, which the discoverers 
had found on the coasts of the Gulf of Maracaybo. Welser, 
in 1527, sent his trusted friend — afterwards son-in-law — Am- 
brosius Dalfinger into the country. He took with him some 
Jesuit missionaries, twenty-four German miners, and a com- 
pany of Spanish soldiers. Coro, lying at the mouth of the 
Maracaybo, was the starting-point of expeditions by which 
he gradually subdued the numerous tribes of the natives. 
Nicolaus Federmann, of Ulm, who joined him in 1530, with 
fresh forces, has given us a faithful description of these 
savages, and of the wars waged against them. 

But after the death of the Governor, Dalfinger, in 1541, the 
administration of the colony, the produce of which the Wel- 
sers brought under their own flag to the European markets, 
fell into bad hands. Quarrels with the Governors of the 
neighbouring Spanish colonies, and the cruelties which the 
agents and soldiers had perpetrated upon the natives, turned 
the attention of the Spanish Government to the mal-ad- 
ministration. Following the advice of a commission sent 
to investigate the matter, Charles V. took away the govern- 
ment in 1555 from the Welsers, buying back their rights and 
taking possession of Venezuela for the Spanish crown. The 
new Gover-"'or took up his residence after 1566 in Caracas, 
where Colun^bus had already founded a settlement under the 
name of San Jago de Leon. 

The attempts to explore the course of the gigantic Amazon 
claim a special interest on account of the fearful sufferings 
endured by the discoverers. Gonzalo Pizarro, the youngest 



352 A Century of Discovery, 

of the brothers, had scarcely been appointed Governor of 
Quito when he collected a considerable army to subjugate the 
mysterious lands lying to the east, where they expected to 
find the most valuable spices, and of course plenty of gold 
and precious stones. With 350 well-armed Spaniards, 4000 
Indians, many horses and dogs, he marched out of Quito in 
January, 1540. 

But the passage over this almost inaccessible part of the 
Cordilleras was only accomplished with the greatest difficulty, 
and a fearful earthquake, splitting the rocks and swallowing 
up entire villages, increased the terror with which the stern 
face of nature impressed even these bold minds. When the 
descent on the east side of the mountains was effected, the 
warm damp climate generated severe sickness, and the journey 
through the uninhabited region of the primeval forests 
weakened even the most hardened constitutions. The Span- 
iards were soon reduced to the most loathsome food, and 
their garments worn to rags. But the dazzling pictures called 
up by their imagination gave them strength to persevere. 
They pursued their march along the banks of the Napo, a 
tributary of the Amazon, Their strength continuing to fail, 
they built a ship with indescribable difficulty, melting down 
the shoes of the slaughtered horses for nails, using the gum of 
trees for pitch, and their torn clothes for ropes. After hard 
labour for two months a rough boat was completed, strong 
and roomy enough to carry half the company. 

The journey was thus rendered easier, but their sufferings 
from hunger increased, and still there appeared no signs of 
inhabited or cultivated land. In this extremity Pizarro sent " 
forward the ship with fifty men, under the command of Fran- 
cisco de Orellana of Truxillo, to forage for provisions and 
await the arrival of the others at the confluence of the Napo 
and the Amazon. Pizarro and those who remained with him 
reached this spot after a wearisome march of two months. 



The Last Discoveries of the Spaniards. 353 

But, to their horror, the ship was nowhere to be seen, and 
they learned from Sanchez de Vargas, who had quitted it, 
that Orellana, thinking only of his own safety, had pursued 
his way down the larger stream, hoping to be able from its 
mouth to reach Spain. 

In their despair the only stay of the Spaniards was the 
heroic courage of Gonzalo Pizarro. He pointed out to them 
that there was no hope of deliverance, except in at once re- 
turning to Quito. But the sufferings endured on the road 
were fearful, and only eighty Spaniards and 1000 Indians 
reached (June, 1542) the point whence the expedition had 
started : and they were naked, famished, scarred, and wounded, 
and many of them bearing in their bodies the seeds of in- 
curable diseases. 

Meanwhile Orellana, who excused the faithlessness with 
which he had left his^ companions a prey to hunger, by the 
impossibility of steering against the mighty stream, had suc- 
cessfully escaped all the dangers to which the ship was ex- 
posed from the rapidity of the stream, the rocks, and the 
floating islands. He seldom ventured to land, since his weak 
and famished crew were not a match for the warlike Indians. 
At last he reached the coast, and steering northward came 
to the little island of Cubagua, which lies off Paria, and was 
then much visited on account of its pearl fisheries. Here 
he found Spanish ships, which conveyed him and his com- 
panions home. He mixed up with his report of their unen- 
durable sufferings fables of an Eldorado, and of a race of war- 
like women that inhabited the land, which doubtless gave rise 
to the name still borne by the mightiest stream on the earth. 
He received permission to conquer and colonise the lands 
that he had discovered, and collected for that purpose 500 ad- 
venturers. They, however, could not agree, and dispersed 
when they reached the Canary Islands, Orellana himself 
dying of vexation. 

23 



354 ^ Century of Discovery. 

For more than lOO years the upper and middle streams of 
the Amazon, thus explored by him, were not again visited by 
any European, but the land near the estuary was quickly 
taken possession of by the Portuguese Government and united 
to Brazil, to the coasts of which a large body of emigrants 
was sent. 

After Hernando Jacques had built (1526) Pernambuco, the 
oldest of all the Brazilian cities, Bahia and Rio Janeiro arose, 
and the whole land was placed under Captain-generals, of 
whom the first, Thomas de Souza, fixed his residence in 
Bahia. Still farther south Spain maintained the right which 
the discoveries of the unfortunate Juan Diaz de Solis 
(1515-16) and of Magalhaens (1519) had given her over the 
Gulf of La Plata. 

In 1525 Pedro de Mendoza offered Charles II. to undertake 
at his own cost the exploration and conquest of that tract of 
country, and the land between the river Paraguay and La 
Plata was conferred upon him with the title of Adelantado. 
In 1534 he set out with fourteen ships and 3000 men, explored 
the lower course of the two great streams which empty them- 
selves into the Rio de la Plata, and by a victorious conflict 
with the natives assured the Spanish dominion. On a favour- 
able spot he laid the foundation, in 1535, of the town Buenos" 
Ayres, and died on his way to Spain, whence he was seeking 
reinforcements. 

In 1537 Juan de Ayolas went up the Paraguay, and some- 
where about eighty degrees south latitude reached the high- 
lands of Peru. On his return, however, the natives, whom 
he had treated in a cruel manner, fell upon him and" 
killed him with all his companions. Twelve years later 
Captain Dominigo Martinez de Yrala repeated the attempt 
to unite the Spanish possessions on the shores of South 
America. The way which he chose was south of that taken 
by Ayolas, and led through wild mountain regions ; but he 



The Last Discoveries of the Spaniards. 355 

succeeded in reaching Peru, and in returning again to Para- 
guay. On the way laid open by him constant intercourse has 
since been established between the two Spanish provinces. 

The narrow coast land of Chili was explored in 1525 by 
Almagro, to whom the Emperor had allotted it ; but he 
neglected to establish permanent colonies, being too much 
occupied in maintaining against Pizarro his claim to the 
southern part of Peru. After his defeat his successful rival 
added the land to his own territory, and commissioned the 
brave Pedro de Valdivia to conquer it. He began in 1538, 
and by hard fighting established himself in the land. The 
first town that he founded was Santiago, which is still the 
capital of the country, and in 1550 the celebrated harbour of 
Valparaiso was formed. 

But previously to that time there had been dissensions in 
Peru, and Pedro de Valdivia had sided with the imperial 
governor, Pedro de la Gasca, contributing more almost than 
any one to the triumph of the latter over Gonzalo Pizarro. 
As a reward the government of Chili was conferred upon 
him, as an independent Captain-general. But he only en- 
joyed this new honour for a few years. In 1553 he fell into 
the hands of the wild Araucans, a people inhabiting the south 
of Chili, and not yet completely subdued, and by them was 
slain. 

The communication of the rich colonies in the Pacific with 
the mother-country was maintained through Panama, for in 
spite of the delays and difficulties accompanying the lading 
and unlading on the two coasts of the peninsula, this way was 
always preferred on account of its safety and speed to the 
tedious and dangerous passage through the Straits of Magel- 
lan. It was not until the discovery of Cape Horn by the 
Dutch that a commercial highway round South America was 
established. 

23—2 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE SPANISH RULE IN AMERICA. 

The false assumption with which the Spaniards entered the 
New World, that in consequence of the Pope's gift the whole 
land was the property of their King, and that their conflicts 
with the heathen inhabitants was a holy work, became the 
source of endless misery. If an adventurer took possession, 
with the proper formalities, of an island or a coast in the 
name of his King, resistance to the foreign power was looked 
upon and punished as rebellion. And if any unfortunate 
native ignorantly accepted baptism, the slightest relapse to 
the worship of his fathers was sufficient to condemn him to 
be burnt as a heretic. It was on this false reasoning too that 
the conquerors supported their right to impose the yoke of 
slavery on the Indians, and to give an appearance of justice 
and piety to their selfish plans and heartless cruelties. 

Rebellion and heresy were the pretexts made use of by the 
Spanish governors for breaking down the power of the native 
princes and sweeping them from their paths. The fate of 
Guatemozin and Atahualpa was shared by hundreds of Indian 
chiefs on equally frivolous grounds. It was often considered 
unnecessary to go through the form of a trial, and the 
Spaniards recklessly violated the most solemn treaties, and 
committed acts of brutal violence. Such was the conduct of 
Nicolas de Ovando in 1503 towards Anacoana, the beautiful 
and sagacious Queen of Xaraqua, the most westerly district 
of Hispaniola. He announced his intention of paying her a 



The Spanish Rule in America. 357 

visit, and set out with 200 infantry and seventy horsemen. 
Anacoana, who had always shown herself a faithful ally of 
the Spaniards, received him with considerate respect, and in 
his honour caused a great dramatic dance to be performed. 
But the gloomy Ovando was brooding over a bloody requital. 
He invited her and her chiefs to a military feast, and while she, 
with surprise and delight, was gazing at the new spectacle he 
gave the preconcerted signal by laying his hand on his order. 
Instantly the soldiers turned their arms against their unsuspect- 
ing guests and a fearful slaughter began. Neither sex nor age 
found pity or compassion. Anacoana was taken alive, but 
only to be reserved for an ignominious death on the gallows. 
In order to escape from a threatened investigation of this 
crime, two years after her death Ovando instituted a trial 
of the unfortunate Queen and pronounced her justly con- 
demned for an attempted rebellion. If those in authority 
were guilty of such fearful acts of violence against the princes, 
how could they successfully control the Spanish soldiers of 
fortune who came down like a troop of hungry wolves upon 
the natives. To have been born in Spain gave any one a 
claim to a piece of land and a number of Indians to cultivate 
it. These unfortunate beings possessed absolutely no rights, 
and a life of danger and a sudden accession to prosperity and 
fortune rendered their masters insensible to their sufferings. 
Besides the worst cases, unfortunately only too numerous, of 
perfectly inhuman cruelty and bloodthirstiness, there was also 
such a fearful amount of hardheartedness and indifference on 
the one side, and misery and despair on the other, that one 
can well understand the irritation that even contemporaneous 
writers display while narrating the gloomy history. 

The Spanish Government did everything in its power to 
soften the lot of the Indians, partly from self-interest, for the 
unfortunate creatures were Spanish subjects and increased the 
national revenues, but also from compassion and humanity. 



35^ A Ceiihiiy of Discovery. 

The pious Isabella tried to protect the Indians from the 
oppressions of the Spaniards, and after her death the Govern- 
ment continued the same efforts and drew up a number of 
laws by which they consented, indeed, that the Indians should 
be forced to execute a certain quantity of work, but endea- 
voured to secure to them their freedom and a humane treat- 
ment. But these laws could not be carried out in the colonies ; 
the officials were much too avaricious to resist the temptation 
of rapidly becoming rich ; and all authority was powerless 
against the resolution with which the colonists stood upon 
their supposed rights. 

At the sight of such terrible events, the clergy did not for- 
get their sacred duty as the protectors of the oppressed. The 
monks of the Dominican Order especially raised their voices 
loudly, and condemned from the pulpit the inhumanity of the 
Spaniards. They continued their heroic struggle against the 
tyranny of the colonists, in spite of the persecution which 
they had to endure from them, and although they Avere not 
supported as they ought to have been by the court, where the 
opposite party employed both influence and gold against them. 

The noble Bartholome de las Casas was the most inde- 
fatigable champion of the Indians. Born at Seville in 1474, 
he laboured as a priest in Hispaniola from 1504, and after 
that in Cuba. He relinquished his post there in order to 
plead the cause of the remains of the native population. 
After an attempt to found a model colony on the coast of 
Paria, which in spite of his efforts proved unsuccessful, he 
joined the Dominican Order in 1523, and for many years 
laboured successfully as a preacher of the Gospel in Mexico, 
Nicaragua, and Guatemala, constantly endeavouring to restrain 
the violence of the Christian conquerors, and beloved as a 
father by the poar heathens to whom he devoted himself. 
During this time he was often in Spain, where he did his 
utmost to make the court lay to heart the grievances of its 



The Spanish Rtde in Ame^Hca. 359 

brown subjects. In order to increase the effect of their com- 
plaints he drew up a detailed description of the cruelties of 
which the Spaniards had been guilty, calling it "A Short 
Account of the Destruction of India." In the most unsparing 
manner he accused both those in authority and also private 
people of arbitrary cruelty, and paiHted a horrible picture of 
the oppression to which the poor Indians were exposed. It 
is a terrible history of suffering, every line written in blood, 
and we can only hope that the benevolent man, in order to 
produce a more striking effect, lent a willing ear to many un- 
authenticated accounts of robbery and violence, and In 
righteous indignation exaggerated the cruelty. The book 
excited the greatest attention, the court was shaken out of its 
indifference, and drew up a number of beneficial laws. Las 
Casas was rewarded for his zeal by the offer of the rich 
bishopric of Cusco. He refused it, but afterwards was per- 
suaded to accept the bishopric of the Mexican province of 
Chlapa. But after some years he relinquished his dignity and 
returned to Spain, where he withdrew into the convent of 
Atocha in Madrid^ and occupied himself until his death with 
the completion of his great work, " The Universal History of 
India." Of this work, which according to his directions was not 
to be printed until forty years after his death, only a small 
portion was published, but it has served as an Important 
$ource of information to all historians of the age of discovery. 
Las Casas died at a great age In the year 1566. 

The interference of the Government came too late for a 
great part of the New World ; blooming provinces had be- 
come barren wildernesses, whole nations had died out in a -few 
years, and the small remnant were not to be saved from the 
fate that awaited them. Besides the countless victims that 
fell before the swords of the Spaniards, thousands were mown 
down by the diseases introduced into the land by the strangers, 
and thousands more languished and died under the burden of 



360 A Century of Discovery. 

the hard labour to which their masters had subjected them. 
The gold mines of Hispaniola and the fisheries of Cubagua 
constantly required fresh labourers, and new relays were forced 
to take the place of those that died. 

The gentle inhabitants of the Antilles, unsuited to a life of 
such hard work and fearful suffering, had no other means of 
freeing themselves than self-murder, to which they had re- 
course in their despair. Whole companies killed themselves 
by inhaling the vapours of some poisonous herb which they 
kindled near their hammocks ; and it was not uncommon for 
the whole native establishment of a settler to hang themselves 
together, delighting in the thought that they were thus re- 
ducing their tormentor to beggary. These wholesale suicides 
of the Indians quickly depopulated the Antilles of their 
aboriginal inhabitants. As early as 1508 the number of the 
natives of Hispaniola had dwindled down to 60,000 ; in 15 12 
there were only 20,000, and in 15 14 only 14,000. Some- 
what different is the account of Federmann, who, in 1530, on 
a journey to Venezuela, stayed some time in Hispaniola. He 
says : "The Indians are completely subject to the Christians, 
and serve them — as many, indeed, of them as remain — but 
their number is comparatively small ; for, as we understand, 
of the 500,000 Indians in the land when the Christians first 
discovered it, not more than 20,000 are now to be found. 
Numbers have perished from a disease called smallpox, some 
have fallen in war, and many have died from the hard work 
in the gold mines to which the Christians have forced 
them : for they are a gentle people, and unfitted for such toil." 

But even if the numbers given by Federmann are too high, 
they still confirm the striking decrease of the population, which 
continued from year to year. In Hispaniola the native race 
died out immediately after the arrival of the Spaniards ; in 
Cuba it was completely extinct in the year 1548. 

But on the mainland the energetic interference of Govern- 



The Spanish Ride in America. 361 

ment was just in time to save the principal part of the abori- 
gines from such a miserable fate. True, even here there were 
whole provinces utterly depopulated, such as Darien and 
Veragua, previously thickly inhabited ; and under the leader- 
ship of hard-hearted men, such as Pizarro, Dalsinger, and par- 
ticularly Pedro de Alvarado, the most terrible cruelties were 
perpetrated. Yet in the highlands of Mexico and Peru there 
still lived millions of the aborigines, whose lives and posses- 
sions were at length protected from the bloodthirstiness and 
avarice of their oppressors. 

But the most stubborn resistance was offered by the Spanish 
settlers to the humane laws procured by Las Casas. In Peru 
it amounted in 1546 to open rebellion against the new Governor, 
Blasco Nunez Vila, which could only be pacified by Pedro de 
la Gasca. Also in Mexico there was a continual resistance on 
the part of the Spanish settlers, who felt their stolen rights 
infringed by being thus deprived of their property. Only by 
the stern interference of the Viceroy could the rebels be kept 
down ; and as late as 1567 the descendants of the great Cortes 
were subjected to great persecution on the charge of having 
stirred up the discontented Spaniards to rebellion. 

One inevitable consequence of the dying out of the native 
population was the introduction of the African negroes into 
the Antilles. Unfortunately the noble Las Casas himself re- 
commended this shameful human trafSc in his great zeal for the 
protection of the Indians committed to his charge. He bit- 
terly repented when he discovered, as he himself says, that 
one law held good for the natives and the negroes. 

The introduction of negroes was begun in the year 1520, 
and only two years later we hear of the first negro rising. 
The extension of the growth of the sugar-cane, and the de- 
crease of native labour, made the number of slaves brought in 
in succeeding years much larger. In 1560 there were 30,000 
black slaves on Hispaniola ; and an Italian traveller even 



o 



62 A Century of Discovery. 



then foresaw that the island must some day fall into the 
hands of the Africans. The rest of the Antilles kept pace 
with Cuba ; but the mainland, in which there was still a native 
labouring class, was almost completely spared the plague. 

Unfortunately the monstrous territory, with its inexhaustible 
resources, was ruled in the same narrow-hearted and small- 
minded way that had been shown in its discovery. From 
fear of the expense, the Government had relinquished the 
undertaking, and left the task of the discovery and conquest of 
the New World to upstart audacious adventurers, and then 
watched them most suspiciously, and brought charges against 
them until the power that had been promised them reverted 
to the crown. Nor did the government of the newly-con- 
quered territories bear that stamp of a superior policy which 
it is impossible to deny to the rule of the Portuguese in India, 
in spite of the very different adversaries with whom they had 
to contend. 

The discovery of a New World was valued like a rich mine, 
according to its produce in silver and gold ; and if the silver 
fleets came in safely and punctually, all was attained that was 
looked for. At the same time the spirit of monopoly con- 
tinually increased. As the crown reserved to itself the trade 
in the precious metals, so it would have preferred to limit to 
the Castilians the advantages to be drawn from the rich lands. 
And though it was found impossible to exclude the other 
Spanish subjects, the New World was closed to Jews and 
Arabs, and the trade with it was confined to Seville and a few- 
other favoured harbours. 

This exclusiveness, which has nothing in common with the 
true work of a healthy colonial policy, went hand in hand 
with a systematic repression of the colonies. All indepen- 
dent action was suspiciously watched and suppressed. Even 
those born in the land, the Creoles, who were the largest 
landed proprietors, and constituted the upper classes in the 



The Spanish Rule in Aniejnca. 363 

towns, were excluded from every position of influence. The 
higher offices were conferred upon trueborn Spaniards, and 
even they were only left in office for a few years. No attempt 
was made to procure for the glorious lands a higher culture 
and a richer development ; on the contrary, every advance 
was checked and all cultivation limited, in order not in the 
smallest degree to overstep the requirements of the mother 
country, and so bring down the prices. 

The Indians felt themselves well off under the despotic 
government, which towards them took a patriarchal form, and 
the clergy served as a support. In a few years they had 
baptised all the natives ; and the people of the time were so 
convinced of the importance of the work, that even a Las 
Casas was of opinion that the benefit of baptism quite made 
up for the curse of slavery, and that the Indians had no 
right to be angry at a revolution which had brought them so 
great a blessing. But what kind of Christianity was it with which 
the Indians were inoculated } At the present day many travel- 
lers testify that they belong to the Christian Church without 
any inward conviction, that they do not understand its doctrines, 
and have adopted nothing beyond the external rites, under 
which are concealed many links with the heathenism of their 
ancestors. Also the well-intentioned care which the clergy — 
especially the Jesuits — exercised over the converts had not a 
beneficial effect. The characteristics of the Indian nature — 
dependence, carelessness about the future, indifference with 
regard to a poor way of living, an utter want of ambition 
and emulation — all these weaknesses of the natives were 
strengthened by the guardianship of the law, by their being 
deprived of property, and by the training of the clergy ; while 
their tendency to idleness was fostered by the many saints' 
days. The fact that the nation considered it advantageous 
to fan the hatred between the Creoles and Indians had the 
same tendency. 



364 -^ Century of Discovery. 

Therefore it can excite no wonder that, after hundreds of 
years, when the colonies separated from Spain, the Indians 
were in the same, if not a lower, condition than that occupied 
by their ancestors at the time the foreign yoke was imposed 
upon them. But even the mother country has reaped no benefit 
from the possession of the richest provinces on the earth. The 
enormous influx of gold and silver into Spain, especially after 
the conquest of Mexico and Peru, at one and the same time 
crippled the trade and agriculture of the country, and raised 
the price of all the necessaries of life. While emigration into 
the great provinces on the other side of the sea almost depopu- 
lated the country, the people were poor amidst their treasures. 

In the hands of its princes, especially of the gloomy Philip 
the Second, this was a powerful aid in their infatuated attempt 
to stop the wheel of time and gain new conquests for the ex- 
ploded ideas of the Middle Ages. The result of the conflict is 
w.ell known. Vanquished Spain was shut out from the rapid ad- 
vance of the next few centuries ; and when at length she could 
no longer resist the general stream, her transatlantic provinces, 
the sources of her wealth, broke loose. Cuba and Porto Rico 
alone could be saved from the general wreck, and their pos- 
session has been retained only by incessant sacrifices. And 
Spain herself, to whom is wanting all the training and de- 
velopment which the last few centuries has brought to other 
nations, is now struggling, amidst terrible convulsions and 
internal conflicts, to attain a new constitution and to shake 
off the inheritance which the great century of her discoveries 
has left to her. By her own fault, that has become to her a 
curse which might have been an inexhaustible source of" 
blessing. 

THE END. 



BILLING AND SONS, PKINTEKS, GL'ILDi-'ORD, SURKEY. 



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